Gus Dur's Australia visit could be cut short: Wimar

Gus Dur's Australia visit could be cut short: Wimar

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid's six-day visit to
Australia, scheduled for early April, could be cut short by two
or three days for the sake of efficiency, a presidential
spokesman said on Wednesday.

"The original schedule was six days. It could be cut short to
three days or something, but everything is still being worked
out," presidential spokesman Wimar Witoelar told The Jakarta Post
in a telephone interview.

He said the trip to Australia might be cut short due to
several factors.

"First, we don't want the President spend too much time away
from the country for obvious reasons, second we want to save
money and cut costs," Wimar said.

Later in the day, chief of the state protocol Rahmat
Ranudiwijaya confirmed that the trip would be cut short by "one
or two days" from the scheduled six days.

"This matter is still being finalized with our Australian
counterparts," Rahmat told the Post.

In a departure from usual practice, he also said that
Abdurrahman would use a commercial flight to Australia instead of
using the presidential plane.

"We will be flying Garuda on a scheduled flight," Rahmat said,
adding that instead of taking the regular number of 50 to 60
people, there would only be some 20 people within the
presidential entourage to Australia.

The statement came as Abdurrahman has been under intense
pressure to step down after the House of Representatives censured
the President in February for his alleged involvement in two
financial scandals.

The beleaguered President has also been under fire following
the disclosure that some US$300,000 in cash had been delivered
from Jakarta to staff traveling with the President during his
recent trip to Saudi Arabia.

Presidential aides later said that the money was used to cover
"additional expenses" of the presidential entourage during the
haj pilgrimage.

Wimar also said that Abdurrahman's visit to Australia was
unlikely to be canceled since the trip had already been postponed
several times.

"It is essential that we stick to the schedule otherwise we
would have postponed the trip to Australia three times, so maybe
by way of compromise this trip could be shortened," he said.

"But, it can't be too short because besides meeting the
officials, the Australian public also want to hear Gus Dur," he
added, referring to the President by his nickname.

Palace sources said on Monday that Abdurrahman is tentatively
scheduled to leave for Canberra on April 3 and would return to
Jakarta on April 9.

An Australian official said earlier in the week that
Abdurrahman will leave for Australia on April 5.

Chairman of the Australia-Indonesia Institute, John Reid, said
after meeting with Abdurrahman at Merdeka Palace on Monday that
the President is scheduled to visit Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney,
and Darwin and then continue the trip to the New Zealand capital
of Wellington.

Ties between Jakarta and Canberra nosedived after Australia
led an international peacekeeping force in East Timor following
the UN-organized self-determination ballot in August 1999.

At the time, Jakarta angrily scrapped a mutual security
treaty, and plans by Abdurrahman to visit Canberra have been
repeatedly postponed due to strong domestic opposition.

Abdurrahman has visited more than 50 countries, some twice,
since he took office 17 months ago and has come under fire for
his frequent overseas trips during times of domestic crisis.
(byg)