Megawati's setback

Your report on Sunday, June 27, with the headline Megawati's bid suffers setback, which stated that "Abdurrahman Wahid, Amien Rais, Nur Mahmudi Ismail and Hamzah Haz agreed on Saturday that Islam bars women from becoming heads of state" clearly distorts the substance of the discussions among the four politicians. Your reporters have clearly missed the point of their conclusion.

The opening paragraph of your article, which stated that the four politicians agreed that "Islam bars women from becoming heads of state" makes it seem that the discussion among the four men resulted in such a conclusion. That is clearly not the point.

It is true that Abdurrahman Wahid said that, "If Megawati is elected, Islamic groups will not accept her", but in this case it is clear that he is offering a general statement, and not necessarily stating his own views and opinions.

The meetings among the four leaders seemed to be aimed to find a solution in anticipation of a deadlock in the presidential election in November, and actually not meant at all to set back Megawati's bid for presidency.

Indonesian politics is complex as it is. Please take care so as to minimize further distortion of Indonesia's complex political issues.

AMIR SIDHARTA

Jakarta