Akbar chides Amien for public excuse<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister\/State Secretary Akbar Tandjung has
\nchastised Amien Rais for boycotting Friday's conferment of
\nMahaputra medals by President B.J. Habibie after accepting the
\ninvitation to the event, and for later broadcasting his excuse to
\nthe media.<\/p>\n
Amien should have told the state secretariat that he had
\nchanged his mind about attending, rather than making the
\nannouncement through the mass media, Akbar was quoted by Antara
\nas saying.<\/p>\n
"He had formally accepted and said he would attend. That's why
\nall affairs related to the conferment had been arranged
\naccordingly. He did not show up, the state secretariat... was
\nnot told," Akbar said Saturday after attending Habibie's state of
\nthe nation speech at the House of Representatives\/People's
\nConsultative Assembly.<\/p>\n
"We regret his failure to attend. We regret even more the fact
\nthat he did not tell the government directly, but went to the
\npress about why he did not attend," Akbar said.<\/p>\n
He pointed out the importance of the presentation as it was
\nheld in connection with the 53rd commemoration of Independence
\nDay. Amien could have asked that his conferment be postponed, for
\ninstance, as have a number of people who refused to be honored
\noutright.<\/p>\n
"That would have been better than accepting the honor and then
\nfailing to show up," he said.<\/p>\n
Amien said Friday he planned to attend and accept the
\nMahaputra, Indonesia's second highest honor, but later changed
\nhis mind after he learned that several recipients were chosen in
\na manner which smacked of "nepotism."<\/p>\n
Among the recipients of the medal from Habibie were his wife
\nHasri Ainun Besari, his brother Junus Effendy Habibie, and a
\nnumber of his close aides.<\/p>\n
Akbar justified the honor for Ainun on the grounds that the
\nlatter had accompanied Habibie when he was vice president and
\nabout to accept presidency from Soeharto on May 21.<\/p>\n
"She is the first lady who is there (for the president) in
\ngood times and bad. She deserved the honor," he argued.<\/p>\n
Junus Effendy Habibie, a former ambassador to Great Britain
\nand twice director general in government ministries, deserved the
\nhonor because of his service to the country.<\/p>\n
"If people have negative views about the honor, that's no
\nproblem. What's important is the fact that he did contribute to
\nthe country. That's an undeniable fact," Akbar said. (swe)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/akbar-chides-amien-for-public-excuse-1447893297",
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