If I were Tutut Soeharto<\/p>\n
Kornelius Purba, Staff Writer, The Jakarta Post
\nJakarta, korpur@yahoo.com<\/p>\n
Read my lips! That will be the theme of my presidential
\ncampaign next year. I made up my mind about the theme when I
\nwalked to my father's house in Menteng, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
My father Soeharto smiled broadly when we met for breakfast on
\nThursday morning. Showing me the headlines of several newspapers
\non my plan to run for the presidency next July, he then kissed my
\nforehead and said, \"Restore the honor of our nation, which has
\nbeen ruined by the stupid reformists.\"<\/p>\n
He then said he saw me appearing on private television. \"My
\nlittle girl (actually, I'm a grandma), how proud your mom would
\nbe if she was alive,\" he whispered with tears in his eyes.<\/p>\n
\"Long Live Soeharto!\" and \"Tutut for President!\" the
\nsupporters of our newly-established PPKB (Concern for the
\nNational Functional Group) shouted when my friend Gen. R. Hartono
\nannounced the party's plan to nominate me as its presidential
\ncandidate.<\/p>\n
\"Go to hell Soeharto!\" the students chanted five years ago, a
\nfew days before my father's fall on May 21, 1998. Thank God!
\nAfter five years, now many people remember the good things about
\nmy father's government: We provided affordable foodstuffs.<\/p>\n
I can understand how the non-governmental organizations
\n(NGOs), or those who boasted to be champions of democracy, are
\nvery upset with my political plan. They could say that my
\nemergence endangers democracy or the establishment of civil
\nsociety. But the reformists should blame themselves, because
\nmillions of ordinary people need cheap rice now rather than tons
\nof gold in the next century.<\/p>\n
Who can deny now that my father deserves the title Father of
\nDevelopment? Ask people in the street whether the security and
\neconomy under President Megawati Soekarnoputri now is better than
\nunder my father's. I swear they will answer: Everything was much
\nbetter under my father's leadership.<\/p>\n
How about corruption, human rights abuses and democracy? Five
\nyears ago, people described my father and his children as \"mega
\ncorruptors\". People are free to say anything about my family. But
\njust a small reminder: How about the rumors that Megawati's son
\nis involved in the selling of state land in Kemayoran?<\/p>\n
Don't you believe that I could rule the country better than
\nMegawati? In terms of education, both of us were university drop
\nouts. I used to manage so many companies -- the economists can
\nsay anything about these companies -- and don't forget, if I did
\nnot build the Jakarta toll road what would have happened to
\nJakartans? Before becoming president, Megawati's experience was
\nbasically handling gas stations.<\/p>\n
We share the same birthday and place of birth. Megawati was
\nborn in Yogyakarta on Jan. 23, 1947. I was born on Jan. 23, 1949
\nin Yogyakarta. Her father is called the founding father while
\nmine is the father of development.<\/p>\n
I don't want to dispute allegations of corruption regarding my
\nfamily. During my father's tenure, officials marked up costs to
\nbuild bridges, but the bridge now stands. And now? Projects like
\nbridges remain on paper, and the prices are still marked up.
\nForeign investors, from Japan, the U.S. and Europe invited my
\nfamily to join their business. For businessmen corruption was
\nactually not a serious issue as long as they could still profit.<\/p>\n
Honestly speaking I am rich, but because I worked hard for it.
\nMy siblings and myself are ready to proffer our riches to develop
\nthe nation. The amount is very significant. But remember, we give
\nthe money as proof of our love to the nation. It has nothing to
\ndo with the corruption allegations.<\/p>\n
Even my brother Tommy, I am sure, is ready to do his best to
\nserve the nation, of course after his release from the prison. My
\nyoungest brother has good instinct. After being sentenced for 15
\nyears in a murder case, he refused to appeal to higher courts. He
\nintends to directly send his appeal to the President. If I was
\nelected president next year, what I should do with him?<\/p>\n
Now, I have decided to run for the presidency. First of all my
\nfather will be my most trusted advisor. Millions of people miss
\nhim. I will ask him to campaign for the party. Perhaps the
\ndoctors, who claimed in public that it was very unlikely that he
\ncould speak fluently again, would faint when they hear him
\nexclaim, \"Long live me!\"<\/p>\n
When I am elected as the country's sixth president, my first
\nprogram will be to buy cheap rice for the people and provide
\njobs. I do not need to go in to detail, but I would follow my
\nfather's steps in eradicating crime and in handling
\nantigovernment activists. We need democracy, but ordinary people
\nneed far more.<\/p>\n
I would not allow other foreign leaders to dictate me, not
\neven Australian Prime Minister John Howard. How about U.S.
\nPresident Bush? My father believes Bush would praise me as a
\nchampion of democracy if I quickly offered him business
\nopportunities for oil or gas companies from Texas.<\/p>",
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