Mahathir swaps stories with old pal Soeharto

Mahathir swaps stories with old pal Soeharto

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Old friends and fellow retirees Soeharto and Mahathir Mohamad,
who shared the limelight during their heyday as two of Southeast
Asia's most powerful leaders, held a reunion here on Saturday.

The 30-minute visit by former Malaysian prime minister
Mahathir with the former Indonesian president at the latter's
residence in Menteng, Central Jakarta, was their first meeting
since 1997, when they were both still in power.

Both shared smiles and compared notes on their health.

"This is my old friend," said Mahathir while kissing
Soeharto's cheek in the living room of his host's home, as quoted
by one of the former president's aides, who did not wish to be
named.

Accompanied by his eldest daughter Siti "Tutut" Hardijanti
Rukmana, Soeharto apparently struggled as he briefed Mahathir on
his health, the staffer related to The Jakarta Post.

Soeharto told Mahathir that his glucose level and his blood
pressure were not good, the aide added.

"I have not met Pak Harto since 1997, I wanted to know whether
he was alright. But maybe because of the stroke, he cannot speak
so well," Mahathir told journalists afterwards.

Mahathir was on a two-day visit to Indonesia. He also received
an honorary doctorate in economics from Padjadjaran University in
Bandung.

Soeharto's aide added that Mahathir specifically requested a
meeting with his old friend and former vice president Try
Sutrisno helped arrange the meeting.

The ailing former president reminded the ex-PM that he had
lost his ability to enunciate clearly, but since Mahathir
insisted, Soeharto finally agreed to have him over, according to
the staffer.

"Last night, (Soeharto) wanted to set up the meeting himself
but he was just too exhausted," the unnamed aide claimed.

Both Soeharto and Mahathir were among the longest serving
leaders in Asia, but their departures from the political stage
could not have been more dissimilar.

Soeharto was forced out in disgrace following huge pro-
democracy demonstrations across the country in May 1998, when the
country was mired in a deep economic morass. Soeharto has been
named a suspect in a multibillion dollar corruption case, but
judges, in September 2000, decided that he was mentally and
physically unfit for trial, mainly his apparent difficulty with
speech, although there has been widespread speculation that his
condition is not as grave as his doctors and aides claim.

Mahathir, on the other hand, stepped down gracefully in
October, after leading Malaysia to become one of the most
developed countries in Asia.

In his last appearance at the Association of Southeast Asia
Nations (ASEAN) summit last October in Bali, Mahathir said he
would not want to go the way of Soeharto.

"I don't want to stick around until the people kick me out,"
he said when asked whether the fate of Soeharto had an impact on
his decision to retire.

Before visiting Soeharto, Mahathir paid a courtesy visit to
President Megawati Soekarnoputri at the president's resort of
Batu Tulis in Bogor, West Java.

The former PM also had lunch with several Indonesian religious
leaders, including Nahdlatul Ulama chairman Hasyim Muzadi and
Muhammadiyah chairman Syafii Maarif.

"It was an informal lunch at Dato Hakim Tantawi's house,
organized by the Indonesia-Malaysia friendship community Prisma,"
NU deputy chairman Salahudin Wahid, who also ate lunch with them,
told the Post.

Mahathir flew back to Kuala Lumpur later on Saturday.