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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