Top leaders bicker over key meeting

JAKARTA (JP): Top reform leaders blamed each other on Thursday over last night's aborted meeting between them, boding ill for a speedy resolution to the current political disharmony, despite the tension and strife which is dragging down the country.

Hopes for political stability and economic recovery took a nosedive after President Abdurrahman Wahid, Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri, People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais and the House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung called off their talks scheduled for Wednesday night.

Amien, who also chairs the National Mandate Party (PAN), said on Thursday he canceled his plan to attend the meeting at the Crowne Inn Plaza Hotel in South Jakarta after hearing that Megawati would not be in attendance due to another engagement.

"I decided not to go after being told by (Foreign Minister) Alwi Shihab that Megawati had opted to skip the meeting," Amien told reporters at the Assembly building.

He insisted that the talks would not yield any significant outcome if Megawati, who is the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) chairwoman, was absent.

Amien said he was afraid that in the absence of Megawati the meeting would incite unwanted speculation. Except for Megawati, the political leaders met last Thursday at the same hotel, with analysts viewing the meeting as a show of unity.

"Nevertheless, I think such a meeting is very important. Maybe we could rearrange it for another day," Amien said.

Amien last met with Megawati on Sunday at the closing ceremony of the country's second-largest Muslim organization Muhammadiyah, which he led for six years before co-founding PAN.

He denied reports that he shunned Wednesday's meeting because of illness. "I was fit and well," he said.

Akbar told reporters on Thursday that Amien failed to turn up because he was sick.

"I was told that Amien had the flu. But I still don't know for sure," Akbar, who is chairman of the Golkar Party, said.

Akbar also stated that talks between the four were important to improve understanding and to defuse speculation about animosity between them.

On June 6, Megawati met Akbar and Gus Dur over breakfast in her official residence on Jl. Diponegoro, Central Jakarta.

In the latest twist to the uneasy relations between them, Amien and Akbar have been at loggerheads with President Abdurrahman over the detention of the central bank governor Sjahril Sabirin in connection with a politically-charged banking scandal and the efforts to quell the communal and separatist unrest across the country that has claimed thousands of lives.

Relations between Gus Dur, as the President is popularly known, and Megawati have reportedly been at a low ebb since the dismissal of Laksamana Sukardi as the state minister of investment and state enterprises development in April.

Megawati and Akbar's parties, which dominate the House, have joined forces to file an interpellation motion over Abdurrahman's controversial policies. In the latest move, more than 230 legislators gave their agreement on Wednesday for an inquiry into the National Logistics Agency (Bulog) scandal and the confusion surrounding a personal donation from the Sultan of Brunei, both of which issues are allegedly linked to the President.

Meanwhile, an alliance of 12 minor Islamic parties said dialog between national leaders to discuss their differences would be a more positive approach than the current 'war of words', which has the potential of sewing confusion among the general public.

"All national leaders, for the country's sake, should exercise restraint. Political parties should also intensify their supervision of their legislators' performance and the government," the alliance's leader Deliar Noer, who chairs the Islamic Community Party (PUI), said.

Besides PUI, the coalition comprises the Nahdlatul Ummat Party, United Party, Indonesian United Islamic Party, Muslim Community Awakening Party, People's Sovereignty Party, Islamic Democratic Party, Abul Yatama Party, New Indonesia Party, Indonesian Muslim Awakening Party, Indonesian Muslim Party, Indonesian Masyumi Islamic Political Party.

In Surabaya, the chairman of the country's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama, Hasyim Muzadi, warned on Thursday that the nation would plunge into chaos if Abdurrahman, who is also former NU chairman, was toppled before his term ends in 2004.

"Political tension and riots will escalate if Gus Dur is forced to resign before completing his tenure," Hasyim told some 20,000 participants attending an NU gathering.

He accused several unnamed politicians of trying to topple the President by submitting motions for interpellation and an inquiry to the House.

He said earlier support from Amien and former finance minister Fuad Bawazier for Abdurrahman prior to last year's presidential election was given half-heartedly.

"As NU chairman, I'm upset to see Gus Dur being attacked. But I call on NU followers to remain patient and wait for my orders," he said.

People attending the gathering, which was also attended by NU leaders from East and Central Java, prayed for the safe continuation of government under Gus Dur. (nur/dja/jun)