Harmoko get presidential thanks for his service

Harmoko get presidential thanks for his service

JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of Special Assignments Harmoko
ended his 14-year service as a cabinet minister yesterday with a
"thank you" from President Soeharto.

"He stated his gratitude at all my efforts while I was in the
executive branch, and he further expressed his appreciation of
what I did when I served as minister of information for three
periods and state minister of special assignments for a few
months," Harmoko said after meeting with Soeharto.

Harmoko, 58, will be sworn in today as legislator for the
1997/2002 term.

Under law, an individual cannot serve in the legislative and
executive branches at the same time.

Harmoko was elected to the House of Representatives during the
May election. As chief of the dominant Golkar faction, he is
tipped to replace Wahono as speaker of the House.

Harmoko described his long-time experience in the executive
branch as "absorbing".

"My position in the executive branch has allowed me to deal
with people... and people are always interesting," he said.

"I've always been assured of my duties because what I did was
always under the guidance of the President," he remarked.

Born in Nganjuk, East Java, Harmoko began his career as a
journalist working at the Merdeka daily in 1960. He quickly rose
to become head of the newspaper in 1966.

He has also served as editor-in-chief of Pos Kota and Terbit
dailies.

In 1973 Harmoko became head of the Indonesian Journalists
Association for 10 years.

He was selected by Soeharto as minister of information in
1983. Harmoko was the second longest-serving minister after State
Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie.

During his tenure as minister of information, Harmoko was
involved in several controversial decisions, including the
banning of several publications such as Sinar Harapan in 1986,
Prioritas in 1987, and most recently Tempo, Editor and DeTik in
June 1994.

In June Harmoko was replaced by former Army chief R. Hartono
as minister of information.

He was given the newly created post of state minister of
special assignments and was tasked with overseeing crash courses
for incoming legislators.

"If you ask me I think all duties given to me are the same,
because all have one objective: to serve the nation," he said
after meeting with Soeharto for the last time as a cabinet
minister. (prb/mds)