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.