Indonesia welcomes new leader in Malaysia

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government welcomed on Friday the change of guard in Malaysia from Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and expressed the hope that the two neighboring countries would continue to maintain their excellent diplomatic relations.

"We note that this is a very important step for Malaysia, but we hope that we can continue to cooperate with the new government," spokesman of the foreign affairs ministry Marty Natalegawa said here on Friday.

He pointed out that Mahathir's 22 years of leadership as prime minister had brought a lot of development not only for Malaysia but also for the Southeast Asia region.

"The (Indonesian) government's stance on the succession was expressed eloquently by President Megawati Soekarnoputri during the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summit in Bali. We've nothing more to add to that," Marty said.

During the summit, Megawati bid a tearful farewell to Mahathir and praised him for his "informed" views.

"He always had strong and informed views and never hesitated to say the unpleasant. That is why I can say with confidence that Dr. Mahathir may leave office, but he will never abandon his involvement with ASEAN," Megawati said during the summit, which marked Mahathir's last ASEAN meeting as prime minister of Malaysia.

Unlike former Indonesian president Soeharto, who was forced to resign from the presidency after 32 years of iron-fisted rule, Mahathir gracefully bowed out on Friday.

When once asked whether Soeharto's fate was one of the reasons why he decided to quit office, Mahathir said: "I do not want to stick around until the people kick me out."