Reconciliatory meeting rests on Gus Dur, Amien
JAKARTA (JP): Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri said on Monday the possibility of a reconciliatory meeting between top political leaders depended on the willingness of President Abdurrahman Wahid and People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais to come together.
Megawati also said the country's top four political leaders, including herself and House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung, would only be willing to meet "if there is a clear purpose to the meeting".
"The key to the meeting does not rest with me, but with the Assembly speaker and the President.
"Without a clear proposal and substance, such a meeting will be ineffective," she said as quoted by Andi Jamaro Dulung, an official from the Nahdlatul Ulama Muslim organization.
The statement came after several previous efforts to arrange a meeting between the four leaders failed.
There has been skepticism, however, that any such meeting would be of any significance or help defuse the heightened political tension in the country.
An effort by the capital's indigenous Betawi people on Sunday to bring the four political leaders together ended in failure, with only Abdurrahman appearing.
Megawati, Akbar and Amien did not show up at Sunday's gathering due to other commitments.
A similar attempt on Feb. 13 by former activists of the Indonesian Muslim Students Association, the Indonesian Catholic Students Association, the Indonesian Christian Students Movement and the Indonesian Muslim Students Movement also ended in failure, with none of the politicians appearing.
Separately, Amien Rais said President Abdurrahman should take the initiative to arrange a reconciliatory meeting between national leaders to find solutions to the current political crisis.
"Gus Dur should take the initiative to hold a meeting of political leaders. If the gathering occurs, then Gus Dur should not twist the results of the meeting, but respect them," Amien said on Monday, referring to Abdurrahman by his nickname.
He underlined that such a meeting should not be limited to the four top politicians, but also should include other leaders.
Amien, who is also chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), said the fate of such a large country should not depend on just four people.
"And the meeting should also have a clear agenda to really look for solutions to the current political conditions. If it is meant as an ordinary gathering, we already have done that several times."
When asked why he did not attend the gathering of Betawi people on Sunday, Amien said: "I was out of town to attend a seminar organized by PAN."
Meanwhile, Akbar Tandjung said he has never refused to attend meetings with other national leaders, claiming that if he was unable to attend such meetings it was because of technical problems.
"I was about to attend the Betawi gathering, but almost at the same time I had a meeting with Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew. So I chose to meet with him .... It was only a technical problem."
When asked if he failed to show up for the gathering because he did not want to see Abdurrahman, Akbar said: "No, not at all, it was just a technical problem." (byg/dja)