MPs to discuss prevention of military coups

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)