Kristiani ready for state responsibilities<\/p>\n
Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Long before the Cabinet ministers picked by President Susilo
\nBambang Yudhoyono signed their contracts, Kristiani Herawati
\nsigned one that would bind her to him for life, though not
\nimagining for a moment that it would entail the role of First
\nLady.<\/p>\n
The prospect dawned on her only as the General Elections
\nCommission announced her husband's landslide win in the
\npresidential election.<\/p>\n
Married to Susilo in July 1976, she said she had no idea how
\nto prepare for their move to Merdeka Palace. Susilo plans to live
\nat the palace for the five years of his term for reasons of
\nefficiency and security.<\/p>\n
His decision not to remain at his private residence in Bogor
\nwas also made out of consideration to motorists, as his entourage
\nwould have traveled to the Palace on a daily basis, he said.<\/p>\n
A former medical student at the Indonesian Christian
\nUniversity and an avid reader of histories and biographies,
\nKristiani is prepared for having less time to herself.<\/p>\n
\"I have never been entirely free since we married ... I became
\naccustomed to protocol and ceremonial activities during his
\nservice with the Indonesian Military (TNI) and in government,\"
\nshe told Koran Tempo daily recently.<\/p>\n
Kristiani, the daughter of Maj. Gen. Sarwo Edhie -- former
\ncommander of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) and former
\ngovernor of the Military Academy in Magelang, Central Java -- was
\nborn on July 5, 1952<\/p>\n
Her experience overseas includes a few years in South Korea
\nduring her father's assignment as Indonesia's ambassador there,
\napart from the United States when Susilo was in training at Fort
\nBenning and when studying at Webster University, Missouri.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, she confided that at first she did feel
\n\"sidelined\" in the face of so many people -- especially women --
\nwanting to acquaint themselves with Susilo. \"They forgot that his
\nwife was there ...\" she said.<\/p>\n
While the contracts for Susilo's ministers contain the
\nstatement that they will \"work hard and honestly\", as some
\ncandidates revealed, the couple wishes to ensure that the First
\nFamily does not set a bad example.<\/p>\n
She said that before Oct. 20, the couple would bring together
\ntheir extended family, including their two sons, to caution them
\nagainst abusing the privileges that come with the presidency.
\n\"We'll tell them what may and what may not be done. The family
\nmust be firm in the face of temptation -- that is hard,\" she told
\nKoran Tempo.<\/p>\n
The image of many a leader has been tarnished by family
\nmembers who covet wealth and power. The family is evidently
\nfacing changes already: Friends whom she had rarely heard from
\nhave suddenly made frequent calls, she said.<\/p>\n
Kristiani said she met her husband for the first time while on
\nholiday in Magelang. Then commander of the cadet corps, reporting
\nto her father when he was governor of the Military Academy,
\nSusilo stood out as he was slim and taller than the average
\nIndonesian.<\/p>\n
Susilo's father was reportedly shocked at the news that his
\nson was dating the governor's daughter, but he managed to
\nconvince his family that it would not be a problem.<\/p>\n
\"My mother liked him, he was so polite,\" Kristiani said. They
\nwere engaged in 1974, and at times she received a number of his
\npoems, reflecting a romantic side also displayed in his penchant
\nfor singing.<\/p>\n
Their wedding two years later came days before Susilo's new
\nassignment to East Timor, where a military operation was getting
\nunderway following the government's decision to annex the former
\nPortuguese colony.<\/p>\n
\"I felt desperate when he did not send any news for a month
\nwhile his fellow officer was reportedly killed in the operation,\"
\nshe recalled. But to her relief, he later managed to make contact
\nand chat with his new wife over the radio.<\/p>\n
In the next five years, the First Lady may be the one who the
\nPresident turns to in the face of difficult decisions.<\/p>\n
She said she had fully supported her husband's decision in
\nOctober 1999, to leave military service and accept former
\npresident Abdurrahman \"Gus Dur\" Wahid's offer to become minister
\nof energy and mineral resources.<\/p>\n
With that decision, Susilo who was then chief of TNI
\nterritorial affairs, lost his chance to climb the ladder to the
\nArmy's number one position, one of the most powerful posts in the
\ncountry's history.<\/p>\n
His further appointments as coordinating minister for
\npolitical and security affairs in the Cabinets of Gus Dur and
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri in 2000 and 2001 respectively, pushed him
\nfurther into the spotlight.<\/p>\n
Kristiani reveals little about Susilo's decision to run for
\nthe presidency, only saying that she also fully supported his
\ndecision to quit from Megawati's Cabinet before the general
\nelection. She became a volunteer for his presidential campaign.<\/p>\n
In a biography Susilo simply says of her, \"She's everything, a
\ncrucial part of my whole life.\"<\/p>\n
He has given an indication of her job description: \"As First
\nLady, she will certainly make a significant contribution ... to
\neducation and women's empowerment. She will turn a receptive ear
\nto all, but she won't interfere in the decision-making process,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/kristiani-ready-for-state-responsibilities-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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