Taufik holds 'private meeting' with Gus Dur

Taufik holds 'private meeting' with Gus Dur

Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri's husband Taufik Kiemas met
former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid on Tuesday at the
headquarters of the Nahdlatul Ulama Muslim organization, which
Gus Dur once led.

Gus Dur, whose fall from power last July catapulted Megawati
to the presidency, described the talks with Taufik as a "private
meeting" despite the fact that it was attended by National
Awakening Party (PKB) executives Alwi Shihab, A.S. Hikam and
Arifin Junaidi. Gus Dur is one of the founders of the PKB.

Also present were Cahyo Kumolo and Suparlan, both legislators
of Megawati's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan), who arrived with Taufik.

Gus Dur claimed it was Taufik who initiated the 30-minute
meeting held at 1:30 p.m.

He said Taufik had initially wanted to see him at the
hospital, where Gus Dur underwent treatment for fatigue last
week, but he was discharged on Saturday before Taufik could
visit.

Gus Dur said the meeting was part of the current "political
process", in which Muslim-based parties have been holding regular
meetings to prepare for the 2004 elections.

Representatives from the nationalist-based PDI-P, led by
Megawati, have been conspicuously absent from the meetings.