B.J. Habibie -- a president by accident if not default
JAKARTA (JP): When B.J. Habibie was elected vice president by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) in March, few people thought he would ever succeed Soeharto as president.
Even until a few days ago, no one foresaw that he would become Indonesia's third president so soon.
His election to vice president was marked by controversy. It demonstrated the strong clout that Soeharto wielded, by personally picking his running mate.
In January, Soeharto, then already assured of a seventh term in office, added "strong knowledge in science and technology" to the long list of conditions for vice presidential nominations by Golkar, his political machine.
This criteria narrowed the field of vice presidential candidates to one person: Habibie, the German-trained aircraft engineer dubbed Indonesia's technological czar.
His ascent to the number two slot may have boosted his odds of succeeding Soeharto at the end of the five-year presidential term. But his lack of grassroots support could undermine his chances, and many analysts were prepared to write him off quickly, unless he secured the full backing of the powerful Armed Forces (ABRI).
But this was the scenario for 2003, which is no longer relevant after yesterday's transfer of power.
If Habibie became vice president by "default" last March, his unexpected rise to the number one slot was more by accident.
The 1945 Constitution stipulates that the vice president takes over in case the president resigns or is incapacitated while in office. As Soeharto tried desperately to cling to power these past few days, constitutional law experts said Habibie would automatically take over if the aging president resigned.
Yesterday, Habibie read the oath of office for the second time in less than three months before the chief justice, but this time it was for the nation's highest office.
In physical terms, this means moving from Merdeka Selatan Palace to Merdeka Palace at the opposite end of the National Monument Square in Central Jakarta.
The distance between the two palaces may be a mere two kilometers, but the problems facing Habibie's new office compared to those of his old office are thousands of miles apart.
His greatest challenge is not necessarily to overcome the economic crisis, nor implement the badly needed political reform.
These are certainly urgent and tough problems facing the country, which even a seasoned statesman like Soeharto could not tackle.
Habibie's greatest problem is his legitimacy, the same thing that beset Soeharto which led to his resignation.
Habibie may have the constitutional legitimacy, but he does not necessarily have political legitimacy. He has the support of ABRI and most probably also of the political parties that voted him into the vice presidency just over two months ago.
But judging by the continued student demonstrations calling for his head only minutes after took his oath, Habibie must first deal with this question, in whatever way, before he can even start tackling political reform and the economic crisis.
Can Habibie pull it off where Soeharto failed?
Habibie is not a total novice in government affairs.
His 15-year stint as a cabinet minister under Soeharto has equipped him with some skills to deal with complex state affairs.
Nor is he completely blind in politics.
He cleverly maneuvered his way into the leadership of the Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI) when it was formed in 1990. He then turned ICMI into an effective vehicle to bolster his grassroots connections.
Before his appointment as vice president, Habibie was regarded a "super minister", holding various positions simultaneously; this included state minister of research and technology, chairman of the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology, president of both state aircraft manufacturer PT IPTN and state shipyard PT PAL, and head of the national energy board, the Batam development authority. At one time, he held as many as 26 different positions, one magazine claimed.
Habibie can count on the support of the more moderate reformists, who are willing to give him the chance to lead because of his constitutional position, not necessarily because of his skills, which are as yet untested.
They see Habibie as simply leading a transitional government before a new general election is held, and being the one to convene an MPR session to elect a new president and vice president.
The next few days or weeks, or maybe even months, will tell whether the 61-year-old aircraft engineer is able to rise to the occasion of becoming a statesman.
If he can pull it off in the short time left before the election, there is a possibility that he may even remain as president.
Born in the remote village of Nepo, Parepare, South Sulawesi, on June 25, 1936, Habibie -- or Rudy as he is known by intimates -- was brought up in a strict Moslem family.
The third of four children began reading the Koran as a child. His lifelong religious devotion has continued in adulthood. Despite his hectic schedule as a minister, he continued to fast every Monday and Thursday, a highly recommended practice in Islam, but not compulsory. He went on the haj pilgrimage in 1983.
His father, Alwi Abdul Jalil Habibie from the South Sulawesi town of Gorontalo, died when Habibie was 13 years old.
His Javanese mother, R.A. Tuti Marini, moved with her children to Bandung, West Java.
After attending the Bandung Institute of Technology for about a year in 1954, Habibie won a scholarship from the Ministry of Education and Culture to study aircraft construction engineering in Aachen, West Germany, a course he completed in 1960.
Five years later, at his own expense, he obtained a engineering doctorate from Reinisch-Westfaelische Technische, Aachen. He passed with honors and a perfect grade point average.
He was the only non-German in the post World War II era to write about aeronautics for his final thesis. He was also the fourth to obtain a degree from a German university on work about structural strength.
As a research assistant at Aachen's Technische Hocheschule (1960-1965), Habibie created a design for a deep sea submarine and a high-pressure temperature room for Julich Atomic Center.
With the Hamburger Flugzeugbau (HF) aircraft industry, he designed the world's first aircraft with one consolidated wing, which remains the only aircraft in the world capable of vertical landing and takeoff.
He designed more aircraft, including those for satellite and nuclear projects, when he was an expert staff, then vice president, of the Messerschmidt Boelkow Blohm (MBB), another aircraft industry which subsequently merged with HF.
He is often nicknamed "Mr. Crack" for his outstanding ability to calculate random crack propagation down to the very atom.
Many structural engineers are fearful of crack propagation, as it is difficult to predict its behavior. In the world of aircraft construction, his inventions are often referred to as the "Habibie Factor", "Habibie Theory" or Habibie Function.
In 1974, President Soeharto called Habibie home and assigned him as his technological consultant. Up until March, he was state minister of research and technology since 1978.
His close ties with Soeharto began when he was a teenager. Soeharto, then commander of Mataram Brigade, was assigned to control a rebellion in South Sulawesi and stayed in the neighboring military camp.
Close friends succinctly describe Habibie as rational as a German, as astute in business as a Jew or Chinese, and as humble as a Javanese.
Habibie is married to Hasri Ainun, a physician by training who gave up her professional career to raise their two children: Ilham Akbar, now 35, and Thareq Kamal, 31.
Habibie may have convinced Soeharto of his abilities, one of the reasons he became one of the few close aides Soeharto listened to and confided in. This was probably also the main reason he was appointed vice president.
He earned a reputation as a big spending minister, initiating projects chiefly on technological grounds and prestige but giving less consideration to the commercial aspects. At one time he was also known for his unconventional economic principles.
The international community has not been too impressed with him either. When news of his lead in the candidacy for the vice presidency broke in January, the rupiah plunged.
Now with Soeharto out of the picture, he has no one to turn to but himself to negotiate his way through complex state problems.
His close association with Soeharto may have served him well in his political career in the past, but now it may well be his main drawback and could undermine his hopes of winning, should he decided to contest the next general election.
Some of the charges of nepotism, collusion and corruption leveled at his predecessor have also rubbed off the rest of Soeharto's administration, Habibie included.
This is another major obstacle that he needs to overcome.
Finally, there is also the nagging question about his health, whether or not he would be able to cope with the strong pressure that his new job entails. Habibie was forced to take a three- month rest after heart surgery in 1991. (emb)