I'm just a normal person: Habibie

JAKARTA (JP): Facing widespread speculation over his links with the Bank Bali scandal, that may severely damage his chance at the next presidency, President B.J. Habibie strove to project a message that he was just one of the people.

"The president is just one of the citizens, he is not a king or an alien from another planet," Habibie said in an unusually brief address to some 1,000 invitees to his "party of the people" in the back garden of Merdeka Palace. Here scavengers, street buskers and bus drivers helped themselves to delicacies such as food from a Korean barbecue.

Habibie greeted all of his guests -- some of whom only wore sandals and old batik shirts -- personally. Polaroid snapshots were taken, which he then gave to the guests.

When Habibie and his entourage arrived 10 minutes late, the guests were asked to stand up. His youngest brother Suyatim Abdulrachman "Timmy" Habibie stood a few meters away from the President as he received applause from the guests.

The state-owned TVRI and radio RRI broadcasted the party live. Comedian Miing Bagito, who often made Habibie the butt of his jokes, was the master of the ceremony.

"This is a beautiful palace, and we hope it will not be sold," he teased.

Chandra, a low-ranking city official said Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso ordered mayors to mobilize guests from across the city.

"Habibie is a good man. But Megawati (Soekarnoputri) is my choice as the next president," said Amir, 63, a scavenger from Cakung, North Jakarta, referring to the chairwoman of the poll winner Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).

"Habibie is too close to Soeharto. I still want Mega," said street-musician Gatot.

Some Palace officials tried to be discreet when they distributed pins containing Habibie's photo inscribed with the following phrase: "the leader of the future."

Murniati, a housewife from Manggarai, South Jakarta, said that Habibie is a great leader."He cares about us, and no leader has ever treated us like VIP guests," she proudly said.

Habibie invited his guests to tour Merdeka Palace, however officials warned the guests not to touch anything.

Habibie entertained his guests, singing some famous songs including Kemesraan (Affection or Intimacy) together with several pop singers, such as Dewi Yull.

"This intimacy should not quickly fade away," he sang.

One hour before the party, Habibie had a tense meeting with Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung at his private residence in Patra Kuningan, South Jakarta.

Akbar bluntly told Habibie that if the party failed to receive significant support, Golkar would have to reconsider its nomination in the coming presidential election.

"If the support is not quite significant of course we need to make a reevaluation," Akbar said after the meeting.

Akbar also told Habibie that Supreme Advisory Council chairman A.A. Baramuli is campaigning to topple him from the Golkar chairmanship. Habibie asked Akbar about the latter's meeting with Megawati last week.

"It was just a meeting between the leaders of two political parties," Akbar told the President. There has been speculation that Akbar may jump ship and join Megawati.

Habibie's inner-circle advisors acknowledged the Bank Bali scandal has severely tarnished their boss. They pointed their fingers at Baramuli, whom they described as the person most responsible for the scandal.

Weekly news magazine Tempo clearly implicated Habibie in the scandal. Muladi made a belated denial against the report.

"Baramuli shamelessly always tries to meet with the President, and it is difficult for (Habibie) to refuse an old man like Baramuli," said one of Habibie's aides on Wednesday.

His spokeswoman, Dewi Fortuna Anwar, said the President should take firm action to restore his good name.

"I do believe in the President's honesty. But some people abused his name," said Dewi on Wednesday.

At the same time, some of Habibie's cabinet ministers were busy denying involvement in the scandal. State Minister of State Enterprises Tanri Abeng denied the allegation by Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) that one of the main suspects in the Bank Bali case, Setya Novanto, had also financed his office's activities.

"It is an irrelevant issue," said Tanri on Thursday.

According to some Palace officials, the President was disappointed because the media gave him a cool reception for his state of the nation address on Monday. He complained how the press had blown up Megawati's speech on July 29.

The President revised some parts of his speech, including on the Aceh issue, just a few hours before its delivery after his meeting with the National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman Amien Rais on Sunday evening.

"We could only print the speech at 2 a.m. on Monday," Dewi noted.

Muladi admitted he was getting tired of the mounting criticism over the bank scandal. He could not hide his anger when journalists again chased after him for comments on Thursday.

"Who would not be emotional if people continued bombarding you with such questions?" he said. (prb)