Habibie works to prepare his accountability speech

Habibie works to prepare his accountability speech

JAKARTA (JP): On Saturday, President B.J. Habibie unexpectedly
summoned Minister of Finance Bambang Subianto, Bank Indonesia
Governor Sjahril Sabirin and top government bankers for a meeting
to finalize his accountability speech, especially the part
concerning the financial sector.

In the unscheduled meeting at the Merdeka Palace, the two top
monetary officials were accompanied by the president of publicly
listed Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) Widigdo Sukarman, the
president of Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) Djoko Santoso Mulyono
and other senior government bankers.

After the meeting they rushed to their cars to avoid speaking
to journalists.

"The President simply wanted to get the latest data on the
condition of the state-owned banks, especially their bad loan
problems," said an official about the meeting.

Before holding a televised media conference at the Merdeka
Palace on Friday night, the President warned his close aides that
the slow progress of the government recapitalization program,
including the Bank Bali scandal, could become the main obstacle
in having his accountability speech accepted by the MPR General
Meeting on Oct.14.

"The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan)
seems to be the faction most prepared to attack the bank
restructuring program," said one of Habibie's advisors, who spoke
on the condition of anonymity.

Habibie is scheduled to deliver his accountability speech to
the assembly on Thursday.

His policy on East Timor, the Bank Bali scandal and the
dragging corruption investigation of his predecessor Soeharto are
seen by most political analysts as the biggest problems that
could affect his chances of staying in power.

On Friday afternoon, Habibie held his second plenary cabinet
meeting in a week to prepare the speech, where he received a
lengthy report on East Timor from Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali
Alatas.

Habibie disclosed on Friday that acting Attorney General
Ismudjoko would present to him on Monday his final report on the
corruption probe of Soeharto.

"The attorney general has finished his work (on Soeharto),"
the President told reporters at a media conference on Friday
evening.

The media meeting itself, initiated by Parni Hadi, general
manager of the Antara news agency, was part of Habibie's
campaign for the presidential election on Oct.20.

Habibie claimed it would not be very difficult to convince the
700 MPR members to elect him.

"It will be easier to convince 700 MPR members than 212
million Indonesian people," the President said.

Some of his cabinet members and top aides, including Minister
of Justice/State Secretary Muladi, have quoted the president as
expressing his confidence that the assembly would accept his
accountability report.

Habibie is even ready to face a vote in the assembly on his
accountability report, Muladi disclosed last week.

Two days before presenting his crucial speech, Habibie will
again chair the last plenary cabinet meeting at the Secretariat
Building on Tuesday. The meeting will not only be attended by his
Cabinet members but also all first-echelon officials from all
ministries.

"After the Cabinet meeting, the President's speech will be
printed in both Indonesian and English," a palace official said.
(prb)