April Aswadi, Febriamy Hutapea & Markus Junianto Sihaloho

Senior PDI-P official and chairman of the People’s Consultative Assembly, Taufik Kiemas, meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday. (Photo: Widodo S Jusuf, Antara)

Hopes High for Mega to Attend SBY’s Presidential Inauguration

Former President Megawati Sukarnoputri may break with tradition and attend President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s inauguration on Tuesday, her husband, Taufik Kiemas said.

“Three former presidents will be invited and, God willing, Bu Mega will come,” said Taufik, who is also the newly elected chairman of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), on Friday.

Megawati raised eyebrows when she skipped Yudhoyono’s first inauguration in 2004.

Taufik was speaking after a short meeting with Yudhoyono on Friday in which he, somewhat unusually, personally delivered the president’s official invitation to the inauguration.

“Previously, the tradition was to send the letter. Now, the tradition has improved,” Taufik told journalists, adding that letters were hand-delivered to the president and vice president-elect this year “to make it more polite.”

Taufik’s personal touch, however, was construed by many observers as another push to get members of his Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) into Yudhoyono’s cabinet, breaking with the party’s five year’s spent in opposition.

The PDI-P is widely perceived to be split between those wishing to remain in opposition, including its chairwoman, Megawati, and those like Taufik who wish to join Yudhoyono’s powerful ruling coalition.

Taufik is rumored to be pushing for cabinet posts for both his party Secretary General Pramono Anung and his daughter — and probable future party leader — Puan Maharani.

Pramono on Friday denied suggestions that Megawati was avoiding dealing with the party’s internal divisions by flying to Singapore, saying she had flown to the city state only for a medical check up and would be returning.

“It is just a rumor that Ibu Mega was trying to avoid the invitation,” Pramono said.

He also denied claims that Megawati had rejected joining Yudhoyono’s government, but conceded that she had the last word on any decision. “For sure, any offer for PDI-P must be reported to Ibu Mega, and must be approved by her,” he said.

It is not the first attempt by Taufik, the wheeling and dealing head of the PDI-P’s Central Advisory Board, to mend relations between Megawati and Yudhoyono, with a previous attempt to forge closer ties rejected by Megawati ahead of the presidential election, which was convincingly won by Yudhoyono.

Megawati, who still bears a grudge against her former coordinating minister for political and security affairs for his decision to run against her in 2004, has not attended a single state ceremony since then, including Yudhoyono’s first inauguration.

Ahmad Mubarok, deputy chairman of the Democratic Party, disagreed with suggestions that Yudhoyono should approach Megawati, saying he should not interfere in PDI-P internal politics.

“The show must go on. If there’s no breakthrough [from the PDI-P], we should leave it at that,” he said.

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