Vaudine England, Yogyakarta – Indonesia's top leaders chose statesmanship over party politics yesterday when they answered the Sultan of Yogyakarta's call to meet and settle their differences.

President Abdurrahman Wahid, Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri, and the speakers of both houses of parliament, Amien Rais and Akbar Tanjung, agreed that only by acting together can the nation's problems be solved.

"We realise that miscommunication within the elite can have an impact on the success of the reform agenda ... We realise that conflict among the elite is not beneficial for the efforts to improve people's lives," they said in a communique.

Ms Megawati was persuaded to lend her enigmatic presence to the gathering only after last-minute pressure by Sultan Hamengku Buwono X and by a special emissary from Mr Wahid. She was the first to leave the meeting and made no comment. The President, however, said: "The atmosphere was very cheerful ... There are always problems, it is up to those who control the temperature." He denied rumours of a rift between himself and his deputy.

Similarly upbeat were Mr Rais and Mr Tanjung, with the latter describing the get-together as "friendly and open". "We hope the result of the meeting will make the political situation better. Political tensions will reduce because all the leaders [here] are very happy," Mr Tanjung said. Mr Rais added: "The meeting was very productive, symbolically at least, because the people know it was very important for us to meet."

Tension has mounted between Mr Wahid and parliament. His ties with Ms Megawati and Mr Tanjung have also suffered following the sacking of two ministers from his coalition government in April, as the two were executives of the political parties headed by his vice-president and Mr Tanjung. Mr Rais, a staunch Wahid supporter during last October's presidential polls, has since become a vocal critic of the President.

"The significance of this meeting lies not in what they say, but in that they met," said editor and political commentator Aristides Katoppo. "It indicates they realise that no matter what differences they have, they should discuss them. And they recognise there are over-riding national priorities aside from personal ambitions. So this will help defuse tensions."

Each of the leaders could be accused of creating the very tensions they now say are dissipating, but the gathering will nonetheless give Mr Wahid a better chance of good treatment at the hands of parliamentarians, whom he is due to address next week about his performance since taking office. Mr Rais, whose strident criticism of Mr Wahid has encouraged some members of parliament to push for impeachment, again said such a move was "100 per cent" out of the question.

The final point of the "Yogyakarta Document" agreed yesterday was a plea for legal institutions to act quickly on corruption – a move seen by some as veiled criticism of the Government for its allegedly slapdash accounting and for its failure, so far, to prosecute former president Suharto and his cronies.

Mr Katoppo said: "Of course when they talk about bickering between the elite, they are referring to themselves actually, and it is all about jockeying for seats in the next cabinet reshuffle. There is also the recognition among them that not one of them is strong enough alone, and they need each other."

Ordinary Indonesians often express the desire for more action and less back-biting at the top, so that the goals of the reform movement which toppled Suharto can become the focus of national life once more.