Top leaders bicker over key meeting

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)