Gafur: All easy questions

JAKARTA (JP): What would happen if by some strange chance the newly elected Vice President B.J. Habibie had refused his nomination yesterday?

Could the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) find a replacement within a day?

Those questions were shot at House Deputy Speaker Abdul Gafur, from the Golkar faction, after the five factions interviewed Habibie on the last day of the General Session to formally affirm his readiness for the nomination.

"Oh, come on, let's not ask hypothetical questions like that," said Gafur, a former minister of youth affairs and sports, dismissing the reporter for her mischievousness.

Even though it is reasonable to assume the Assembly would be in dither trying to find another nominee, in the event that Habibie refused the nomination, such a scene is inconceivable in Indonesian politics.

This was reaffirmed by Gafur when another reporter asked him whether there were any problems with the interview, during which Habibie was asked four yes-or-no questions.

"Of course not. What do you think? Those were only four easy questions," Gafur said while entering his car. (das)