Abdurrahman inaugurates Habibie Center

Abdurrahman inaugurates Habibie Center

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid inaugurated the
highly publicized Habibie Center on Monday and said that
promoting democracy in the country is not "an easy job" as
democratic traditions were virtually unknown during the past
regime.

Abdurrahman said that what had been in place before were only
"democratic institutions" such as the House of Representatives
and the Supreme Court.

"We have been able to establish democratic institutions ...
but they don't work for democracy because the tradition of
democracy is not known here," the President said during the
inauguration ceremony of the center, which is named after his
predecessor, B.J. Habibie.

"That's why I said to myself that I have to open the Habibie
Center in order to allow us to develop both the institution and
the tradition (of democracy)," Gus Dur, as the President is
popularly called, said.

According to its founders, including former justice minister
Muladi, the center was established to promote democracy and human
rights in the country.

Abdurrahman said, however, that the center was "the most
difficult decision to be made" by Habibie.

"He is used to technology and the advancement of science, but
now he has to work for democracy ... it is not easy because he
knows the institutions but he (still) has to learn how to develop
the tradition of democracy," the President said, referring to
Habibie's 20-year tenure as research and technology minister
under the Soeharto government.

Habibie took over from Soeharto, who resigned on May 21, 1998
following unrelenting student rallies, but withdrew his
presidential bid last October after the People's Consultative
Assembly voted against his accountability speech.

During his speech, Habibie, who grows his mustache, reaffirmed
that he was a democrat at heart.

To prove his statement, he said that during his brief
administration, 67 laws, 300 government regulations and 100
presidential decrees had been produced to pave the way for
democracy in the country.

"Before my time, the power was in one hand, in the president's
hand. (But) I had 'depowered' that ... based on my conviction,"
he beamed, referring to his efforts to reduce the excessive
presidential power he inherited from his predecessor.

Habibie also said that the center would actively work in
synergy with the government for a bright future for a democratic
Indonesia.

Members of the center, who are mostly Habibie's close
confidantes from when he was in power, have repeatedly denied
that the center is to be used as vehicle to return Habibie to
politics.

Habibie said the center, which was set up on Nov. 10 last
year, was also aimed at enhancing human resources and technology.
It provides scholarships and awards through the Habibie
Foundation for Human Resources in Science and Technology.

Sociologist Mulyana W. Kusumah, who attended the event, said
the center could become the most influential think tank for the
government, given its wide-ranging fields and people behind it.

"I think it's better for the government to count on it in
every policy making process," he told journalists.

Other attendants included former president of the Philippines
Corazon Aquino, who chairs the Benigno S. Aquino Jr. Foundation,
House legislators, diplomatic members and non-governmental
organization activists.

A two-day seminar on democracy and human rights will follow
Monday's opening ceremony. (01/byg)