Megawati goes all out on welfare tour<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Mataram\/Surabaya<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri visited West Nusa Tenggara on
\nTuesday, where she handed over government grants worth Rp 17
\nbillion (US$1.8million) for community development at district
\nlevel across the province.<\/p>\n
The grants were formally transferred to 10 district chiefs at
\nthe opening of a national applied technology exhibition here.<\/p>\n
During the one-day visit, the President observed operations on
\ntwo harelip patients and donated two ambulances to Mataram
\nGeneral Hospital.<\/p>\n
Megawati, who is up against her former senior security
\nminister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the election runoff on Sept.
\n20, has been touring the country in the past month to meet as
\nmany constituents as possible.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Sunday, Susilo visited West Nusa Tenggara to attend
\nthe anniversary celebration of the Nahdlatul Wathon Muslim
\norganization.<\/p>\n
In the first round of the election in July, Megawati did
\npoorly in West Nusa Tenggara and other eastern parts of
\nIndonesia, such as Papua and Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
Accompanying her on the visit were Minister of Home Affairs
\nHari Sabarno and State Minister of Research and Technology Hatta
\nRadjasa.<\/p>\n
At the opening of the exhibition, the President launched 5,054
\ntechnology service centers, which will operate in villages across
\nthe country.<\/p>\n
Later in the day, the President journeyed to Timika in Papua,
\nwhere she will stay overnight before attending another event.<\/p>\n
She is slated to address a national meeting of the country's
\nchurch leaders in the Papua capital of Jayapura, during which she
\nwill also participate in a discussion.<\/p>\n
A presidential palace official told The Jakarta Post on
\nTuesday that Megawati's husband Taufik Kiemas would accompany her
\nin Papua.<\/p>\n
The church leaders also invited Susilo, who will be
\nrepresented by his running mate Jusuf Kalla. Kalla is scheduled
\nto present his team's vision and mission before the church
\nleaders at Sentani Hotel in Jayapura on Tuesday evening.<\/p>\n
The Susilo-Kalla pair won over 80 percent of the vote in the
\nprovince in the first round of the election.<\/p>\n
Susilo visited Surabaya on Tuesday to attend a dialog with the
\nRectors Forum.<\/p>\n
He said, after the meeting, he was intensifying talks with
\nNahdlatul Ulama and National Awakening Party (PKB) leaders ahead
\nof the runoff.<\/p>\n
"I have approached the top leaders of the PKB on several
\noccasions, but not to form a coalition. I will also pay more
\nvisits to NU supporters in the grass roots and senior clerics,"
\nSusilo said.<\/p>\n
He said he would not seek to form a coalition until he had
\nsecured the presidency.<\/p>\n
"I reaffirm my stance not to hold coalition talks with any
\npolitical party (before the runoff). That doesn't mean I do not
\nneed their support, but I respect the electoral process," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
During his visit to Surabaya, Susilo also met with executives
\nof the NU youth wing Ansor and the Inter-Churches Consultative
\nBody, as well as NU clerics Mas Subadar, Lutfi and Sholeh Khozim.<\/p>",
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