For some, Soeharto still president

ATAMBUA, East Nusa Tenggara: National events have escaped the attention of a tribal group at Tafuli hamlet, Belu regency, as they still recognize Soeharto as the country's current president.

"The president of the Republic of Indonesia is Bapak Soeharto. His picture is still hanging on the walls of our houses," one of the tribal leaders Marcel Tas Au told Antara on Sunday.

Even elementary students still claim that Soeharto is the current president, even though he stepped down in 1998.

It was only on Sunday they discovered that Soeharto was no longer in office when the speaker of Belu council, Herman J. Loe, officially informed them about the current president during his visit to the village.

Village head Benedictus Ato said they assumed Soeharto was still the president because they hadn't received any information on the change in the presidency since no officials ever came to them to extend the news and bring the photograph of the new president for them to see.

The small village, which houses 420 families or 1,000 people, is located around 100 kilometers from Atambua.

No land transportation is available to reach the village which is on a hilltop as the road to get there is rocky. (bby)