Habibie a perfect match for Soeharto

JAKARTA (JP): The vice presidential election is not until Wednesday, but most informed citizens believe B.J. Habibie will get the nod after all five factions in the People's Consultative Assembly picked him as their sole candidate.

Any question whether President Soeharto -- whose reelection is also almost a certainty -- would approve of Habibie as his vice president is obviously rhetorical as the two have long been known to be very close.

Habibie often stays for hours when he reports to Soeharto either at the Bina Graha presidential office or the latter's residence on Jl. Cendana. Some people believe the closeness of their relationship resembles the ties that bound Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta, the country's first president and vice president, who were dubbed dwitunggal (two but one).

Habibie signaled his willingness to be nominated beginning in September of last year. Amid controversy over whether civilians were on par with the military in their ability to lead the country in the future, Habibie insisted civilians deserved top leadership posts because they made up the majority of Indonesia's population.

Perfect graduate

Born in the remote village of Nepo, Parepare, South Sulawesi, on June 25, 1936, Habibie -- or Rudy as he known by intimates -- was brought up in a strictly religious Moslem family.

The third of four children began reading the Koran when he was a child. His lifelong religious devotion continues 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, brought 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 the 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 the degree from a German university on work about structural strength.

Habibie Factor

As a research assistant at Aachen's Technische Hocheschule (1960-1965), Habibie created a design of a deep sea submarine and a high pressured and 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 a 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 the random crack propagation down to its very atom.

Many structural engineers were fearful of the cracks, as it was difficult to predict the crack propagation 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 to be his technological consultant. He has been State Minister of Research and Technology since 1978.

Among the more than 20 strategic and influential institutions he currently chairs or recently led are the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), the Agency for Strategic Industries, Nusantara Aircraft Industries (IPTN) and the Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals.

Character

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's character as rational as a German, as economical as a Jew or Chinese and as humble as a Javanese.

Political observers Marzuki Darusman and Riswandha Imawan of Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University concurred with the assessment.

Riswandha said it was Habibie's rationality which, among other things, led some to hope he would play a significant role in creating a peaceful regeneration.

"This characteristic allows him to select people based on merit," he said.

Habibie's strengths, according to Riswandha, include his popularity among the majority Moslem community, the esteem he holds among youth and his long service as Soeharto's minister.

"Serving Soeharto for dozens of years has made him understand exactly what Soeharto wants. He has the capability of translating Soeharto's conceptual visions into something workable."

With these qualities, Riswandha added, Habibie would be able to bridge the communication gap between generations.

"He has proven it," Riswandha said, pointing out how Habibie successfully reestablished contact between Soeharto and Gen. (ret) A.H. Nasution, one of the country's most senior military figures who became a government critic.

Dissidents

Habibie was also responsible for mending -- no matter how fleetingly -- the splintered relationship between the government and members of a group of government critics, who called themselves Petisi 50, by inviting them on a tour of the IPTN facility.

He has also created honorable positions in BPPT for several figures regarded as dissidents by the government but who displayed potential.

"His proximity to minority groups has certainly to be considered as a betterment (should he become the vice president)," said Marzuki, who is also deputy chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights.

Although Habibie has been labeled a "big spender" because of his costly visionary technological projects, Marzuki said this was unjustified.

The label came about because of Habibie's positions as the CEO or president of high-tech industries, which are national projects and carried out based on national decisions, Marzuki said. It does not, in other words, have any link to his personality.

Marzuki advised that Habibie, in his desire to succeed as a national leader, should be concerned about some individuals close to him who he said created an image of exclusivity.

"These people have made things complicated and caused people to feel uncomfortable approaching Habibie," Marzuki said, without mentioning any names.

Riswandha gave a different recommendation.

He said Habibie needed a supporting team comprising people with strong knowledge about Indonesian politics should he become the vice president. This team would be needed to cope with the "natural" character traits of a scientist -- Riswandha said those involved in the discipline tended to be individualistic.

Another political analyst, Arbi Sanit, said: "He also needs to be more open to changes should he want to be successful (as a vice president)." (swa)