Habibie will forgive insults against him

JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie said on Saturday he would appreciate any criticism and expression of opposition against him, and forgive any insulting remarks about his policies.

He even praised people who spent the better part of their time thinking of ways to attack his government.

The President pointed out that antigovernment demonstrators had also played an important role in accelerating the country's economic recovery because their actions had forced the government to work harder.

"The recovery is the result of hard work from the entire nation, including those who have worked hard to demonstrate or spent time organizing demonstrations," the President said in a ceremony marking the People's Economic Awakening Day at the State Palace.

"If they stayed up late at night just to think about me or my policies, I begin to think that I am important," Habibie said, bursting into laughter.

The President, however, reminded his critics not to resort to slander because it was "forbidden by all religions".

Making comparisons, Habibie compared his fate to that of great scientists in the past who were branded insane during their lifetime because of extraordinary findings, but were declared heroes of science hundreds of years later.

"May be I will be appreciated 200 years in the future," he said.

In the four months of his presidency since May 21, Habibie has been the target of many demonstrations, some violent.

The President also pledged not to repeat the mistakes of the previous government which focussed too much attention on major enterprises while neglecting small and medium businesses.

Without elaborating, he said he felt ashamed because the debts of the big enterprises were huge. According to official data, total private sector debt, the majority of which comes from big business excluding the banking sector, currently amounts to US$64 billion.

"The monetary crisis, which has been here for more than one year, proves that conglomerates are unable to survive," he said.

As a part of its populist economic policy, the government will redistribute national economic resources and productive assets to increase equality, the President noted.

"The redistribution of productive assets is aimed at creating a structure of society where 90 percent of people would be middle class, five percent upper class and the remaining five percent poor."

The ceremony was attended by 300 representatives of cooperatives and small entrepreneurs. A number of Cabinet ministers, including Coordinating Minister for Economy, Finance and Industry Ginandjar Kartasasmita and Minister of Cooperatives Adi Sasono were also present. (prb)