Habibie will serve another term if asked

Habibie will serve another term if asked

HANOI (Reuters): President B.J. Habibie said on Tuesday it
would be arrogant not to accept the presidency for a second term
if the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) wanted to appoint him
next year.

Habibie said in an interview he did not know if the ruling
Golkar party wanted him as their candidate when the MPR meets in
November to appoint a new president.

"If you ask would I like (to be president) I don't want to say
that I want to be president. I had not even planned to become
president," Habibie said on the sidelines of a regional meeting
in Vietnam.

"But if they (MPR) say my dear friend you have done a good job
then you continue...If they want me to do it and I'm still in
good health then I think it is very difficult for me, it sounds
arrogant if I say no," he added.

(Critics at home say Habibie should renounce any intention to
be re-elected after next year as a way of dispelling deep
suspicions which have dogged his presidency. They say many of his
policies are designed to enhance his chances of getting elected.)

Habibie was thrust into the job last May when his predecessor
Soeharto, who ruled for 32 years, stepped down amid widespread
violence in Jakarta that killed almost 1,200 people.

After taking power, Habibie promised a new president would be
nominated by the end of next year at the latest. He also said on
Tuesday that if the people wanted him to retire he would, and
support whoever become president after that.

Habibie said he would not delay general elections scheduled
for next June even if violence marred the campaigning period.

When asked if he would delay the poll if violence erupted,
Habibie said: "No, we will not do that, because I am committed to
the MPR decision."

"I have asked all the people, the students and especially the
parties...that they take care that these are very fair and
transparent elections," he said.

He said Golkar might not get its usual majority, something
that was always guaranteed under Soeharto. "I'm not sure we will
have a dominant majority. Maybe it will have to be a coalition."

Soeharto

Habibie insisted that a serious probe was being mounted into
allegations Soeharto amassed billions of dollars through
corruption, despite the close ties between the two men.

Soeharto was "a good friend...sometimes like my own father and
sometimes my older brother", he said.

But asked whether his friendship and his long service in
Soeharto cabinets meant he was not serious in investigating the
former president, he said: "No, no, that's not correct."

Habibie said he wanted to create an Indonesia where nobody was
above the law. But he said Soeharto should be presumed innocent
until proven guilty.

"If your good friend is in bad shape, the only thing you can
do is pray for him, that may God give him strength and good
health. And then of course that he could defend himself and
enjoy...the presumption of innocence. He should get a chance to
defend himself," Habibie said.

He brushed off suggestions that Soeharto was still influencing
events in Indonesia from behind the scenes. "No, no, no, that's
not true."

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