Just call me Rudy, says the President

JAKARTA (JP): "You can just call me Rudy," gestured President B.J. Habibie.

In his two weeks as president, the 62-year-old technocrat has been trying to project a congenial image, and again during a luncheon with chief editors and Jakarta-based foreign journalists he tried to show himself as an average man rather than a patriarch.

He claimed that he wanted to do away with the feudalistic aura surrounding a person of high rank and continue to be intimate with the people.

Habibie recounted how his predecessor, and mentor, always complained that the most important job in the country was always the loneliest one.

"You will have many admirers, many friends and experiences, but one thing is clear, you will be the loneliest man in the world," Habibie recounted Soeharto telling him 24 years ago after returning from Germany.

"Now I understand the warning. I do feel lonely now," he remarked.

Many things have changed now, even his physical repertoire is more choreographed.

He revealed that his wife, Hasri Ainun Besari, told him to be more meticulous in front of television cameras. "My wife said I should no longer wave my hand to people so much."

He lamented that being Indonesia's No. 1 official was also taxing his personal freedoms.

He claimed he only had two hours of sleep each night because he was constantly pondering over ways to lift the economic hardship and restore international confidence in Indonesia.

Even his daily swimming exercise has had to be curtailed.

Habibie boasted that he used to swim over two kilometers a day. "I hope that I can swim for one hour this evening," he said.

Habibie claimed that he had not envisioned himself before as the country's leader, and that he had planned to retire in April this year after holding a cabinet post since 1978, after which he would spend five months out of the year in his beloved Germany where he spent most of his young adult life.

His election as vice president in March ruined his dream.

Unabashed, Habibie said Soeharto had predicted in 1974 that he would replace him as the country's leader someday.

"If God wants it, you will accompany me in bringing this nation to enter the next century," Habibie said reciting Soeharto's words 24 years ago.

Despite the close relationship, Habibie was quick to impugn perceptions that he was merely Soeharto's puppet.

"Just look at what we have done," he asserted as he pointed out policies he recently enacted that would have been unthinkable during Soeharto's era, such as releasing political prisoners and revoking restrictive regulations on press freedoms.

He acknowledged the many doubts hovering over him, both at home and abroad.

"Lee Kuan Yew (Singapore's senior minister) once said if Habibie is there, everything will collapse," he said smilingly recalling the senior statesman's remark earlier this year when news first spread that Habibie would be vice president.

In an apparent response to the wave of discontent against him, Habibie pleaded for patience and cooperation.

In a remark that suggested that he knew he was only human, he said he could not restore the country to its precrisis condition overnight.

"I only have 24 hours a day like everyone else," he quipped.

Following an off-the-cuff address which was preceded by lunch, Habibie challenged the editors to ask questions. Some looked unprepared, although many could not hide their skeptical impressions.

Some Palace officials looked tense as Habibie rambled on during the question period for over two hours.

From the sidelines, one of his doctors jested in a whisper that it might be healthy to talk freely to the press for hours. (prb)