Megawati Sukarnoputri/AP

Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri will not attend this week's inauguration of her successor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Pramono Anug, the deputy secretary general of Ms. Megawati's Indonesian Democracy Party of Struggle said Sunday on ElShinta radio that no regulation requires an outgoing president to attend her successor's swearing-in ceremony.

President-elect Yudhoyono, a retired general, was the landslide winner of the second round of the country's presidential election on Sept. 20. He is Indonesia's first directly elected president.

Ms. Megawati refused to concede defeat for days after Mr. Yudhoyono's victory was announced. Seen by many Indonesians as aloof and uncaring during her time in power, she is now being criticized in the country's news media as a bad loser. Political analysts say voters rejected Ms. Megawati's election bid as a result of her failure to remedy the nation's many economic and social problems.

VOA News