President willing to meet with MPR leaders

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid is willing to meet with leaders of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), a presidential spokesman said on Thursday.

"The President is always willing to meet almost any representative of the people or any person as long as the purpose is clear ... but he has not received any formal request yet, so he is not able to give a formal reply," presidential spokesman Wimar Witoelar told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview.

The statement came after MPR chairman Amien Rais said on Wednesday that the Assembly leaders were seeking a meeting with Abdurrahman "to provide inputs on the latest conditions in the country."

The move followed an announcement by Amien, a staunch critic of Abdurrahman, that Assembly leaders were dropping a plan to precipitate a special MPR session to impeach the President as the move lacked a constitutional basis.

Amien did not say when the leaders would hold the informal meeting but said that the inputs to be given to Abdurrahman would be discussed and prepared in a consultative meeting on Wednesday next week.

Earlier on Thursday, Wimar said the President had nearly finished preparing a reply to the memorandum issued by the House of Representatives (DPR) which censured Abdurrahman over two financial scandals.

"Basically, the reply is already finished," Wimar told reporters.

He added that Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Defense Minister Mahfud M.D. were putting the finishing touches on the President's explanation.

Wimar said it was up to the DPR to decide how Abdurrahman would present his response. He gave no more details.

Mahfud said earlier in the week that Abdurrahman's reply would be limited to the Bulog and Brunei scandals.

The DPR censured Abdurrahman on Feb. 1 after a special committee investigating the two scandals, dubbed Buloggate and Bruneigate, found that the President may have had a role in both.

Buloggate was the alleged misappropriation of Rp 35 billion (US$ 3.5 million) in funds of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), while the Bruneigate centered at the alleged misuse of US$2 million donation from the sultan of Brunei. (byg)