Habibie a good candidate to assist me: Soeharto

Habibie a good candidate to assist me: Soeharto

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto gave his formal consent
yesterday to the nomination of B.J. Habibie as vice president,
saying that the 61-year-old German-educated technology czar was a
suitable candidate to assist him.

The newly reelected President reiterated his support for
Habibie to each of the five factions visiting Soeharto's
residence on Jl. Cendana, Central Jakarta, yesterday.

"Pak Harto said Bapak Habibie is an appropriate assistant for
him as the country is striving for industrialization, which
requires strong technology support," chairman of Golkar's faction
in the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), Ginandjar
Kartasasmita told journalists after meeting the President.

While all five factions in the Assembly had nominated Habibie
as their sole vice presidential candidate, the law requires the
consent of the president-elect to accept to work with the vice
president.

Soeharto said yesterday Habibie met all the criteria for the
post.

Quoting him, Ginandjar said the next vice president should be
the President's primary assistant in anticipating global
challenges of the 21st century.

Ginandjar who was accompanied by Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana,
Golkar's secretary-general Ary Mardjono and outgoing cabinet
ministers Akbar Tandjung, R. Hartono and Haryanto Dhanutirto,
also cited the president as saying he had known Habibie for a
very long time.

He said Soeharto recalled how he had in 1974 asked Habibie to
return home from Germany to help with the country's development.

Born in a remote village near the South Sulawesi town of
Parepare, Habibie won a scholarship from the Ministry of
Education and Culture in 1954 to study aircraft construction
engineering in Aachen, Germany.

After obtaining a doctorate in 1965, he joined the Hamburger
Flugzeugbau (HF) aircraft industry and later the Messerschmitt
Boelkow Blohm (MBB) aircraft manufacturer.

Habibie's expertise earned him a prestigious position as one
of MBB's vice presidents.

Soeharto asked him to return in 1974 and in 1978 appointed him
state minister of research and technology, a post he held till
the end of the cabinet term earlier this month.

The Armed Forces faction delegation which preceded the Golkar
group's visit also concluded that Soeharto was confident about
Habibie's abilities and considered him an excellent partner to
help lead the nation out of the economic crisis.

"It will be a big mistake if the nation does not take
advantage of one of its best sons, who has an excellent mastery
of science and technology," Lt. Gen. Yunus Yosfiah, who led the
armed forces delegation, said quoting Soeharto.

"He (Soeharto) also underlined that Habibie had a vision on
national and international affairs," Yunus, the chief of the
Armed Forces Assembly faction, said after meeting the President.

Yunus, the outgoing Armed Forces chief of sociopolitical
affairs, was accompanied by his successor, Lt. Gen. Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono, Commodore Gofar Suwarno, Commodore Sugiarto,
Brig. Gen. Paula B. Renyaan and Col. Agustiadi S.P.

The three other factions -- the United Development Party
(PPP), the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) and the regional
representatives -- also echoed the supportive statements.

After meeting Soeharto, the same five delegations went to
Habibie's house in South Jakarta to meet with the prospective
vice president.

Habibie is scheduled to be elected and sworn in this evening
after Soeharto's inauguration. If elected, he will be Indonesia's
seventh vice president. (prb/byg/imn)