MPs to discuss prevention of military coups

JAKARTA (JP): International parliamentarians meeting in Jakarta next month will discuss ways of preventing military coups against democratically elected governments.

The topic is one of the two main issues to be discussed during the 104th conference of the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) which Indonesia will host for the first time ever on Oct. 15-21.

The other topic is the financing of development and a new paradigm to eradicate poverty, according to the agenda of the conference released by the Indonesian organizers on Tuesday.

Fears of a military coup may reflect the conditions in Indonesia but the topic, along with the rest of the agenda, were drawn up by the IPU headquarters in Geneva and not by the host nation.

Sri Sumarjati, secretary-general of the Indonesian House of Representatives which is organizing the IPU conference, said the decision to let Indonesia host the event was taken by the IPU in Moscow in 1998 following the political changes in the country.

"Earlier bids were rejected for political reasons," she said.

Sri Sumarjati said the conference could give Indonesia a chance to repair its battered image abroad by highlighting, in particular, the ongoing democratization process in Indonesia, including the efforts being made in that respect by the House of Representatives.

The IPU, which groups 138 world parliaments and five associate members, holds its conferences twice a year. The first one of this year was held in Amman, Jordan.

Sri Sumarjati said that at least 88 countries had confirmed their participation in the Jakarta conference next month.

In all, she expected more than 1,500 participants, including observers, to take part in the meetings which will be held at the Jakarta Convention Center.

President Abdurrahman Wahid is scheduled to inaugurate the conference and Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri will also host a luncheon for the participants at the Bogor Presidential Palace.

Megawati has also been invited to attend the plenary sessions as a guest of honor, Sri Sumarjati said, noting that South African statesman Nelson Mandela had turned down an invitation to attend as a guest of honor.

The idea to invite Megawati came from IPU headquarters rather than the host nation because many in the IPU still had fond memories of her active participation in its conferences when she was a member of the Indonesian parliament, Sri Sumarjati said.

Megawati lost her parliamentary seat in 1996 when she was expelled by her own Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) in a maneuver engineered by the military and then president Soeharto.

Since then, Megawati's political fate was always raised by IPU at every conference, Sri Sumarjati said. (emb)