Harmoko again awarded 1996 Man of the Year

SEMARANG (JP): Minister of Information Harmoko accepted yesterday the 1996 Man of the Year award from Suara Merdeka, the leading newspaper in Central Java.

This is the second such award given to Harmoko, a former journalist, by Indonesian newspapers. The first one he accepted came last week from the Republika daily in Jakarta.

Harmoko was constantly in the news in 1996, either in his official capacity as minister for information or as chairman of Golkar, the ruling political group.

The minister made a brief stopover in Semarang last night on his Ramadhan safari tour to visit backward villages in Java.

In his acceptance speech, Harmoko underscored the need to instill the ethics of healthy political competition in Indonesia's pluralistic society.

Political sportsmanship was one such ethic which he said should replace the tradition of toppling one another.

Harmoko stressed Indonesians needed a leadership figure "similar to the one we now have" to achieve the national goal of a just and prosperous society in accordance with the Pancasila ideology.

He cited the chief statesmanship quality of the present leaders their ability to place the interests of the nation above the interests of individuals or groups.

He did not specifically name President Soeharto. (25/emb)