Megawati brings big team overseas amid problems

Megawati brings big team overseas amid problems

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri will leave behind mounting
domestic problems that include the migrant worker crisis when she
embarks on a whirlwind tour of six countries in Africa and Europe
on Sunday.

During her 15-day trip, the President will bring a sizable
entourage, including two special photographers and two cameramen
to provide family albums for the trip.

Apart from the official entourage, some of the seats in the
presidential aircraft chartered from national flag carrier Garuda
will be reserved for an advance team from the presidential office
that is tasked with preparing the visit in each country.

Indonesia is facing strained bilateral ties with Malaysia
following an exchange of words between their state officials
which centered on Malaysia's expulsion of illegal Indonesian
workers and the punishment imposed on them.

The Indonesian People's Forum has questioned Megawati's
mission and accused her of sidelining a number of negotiators to
enable her friends and family to join the state-funded trip.

As if to confirm the allegation, the long list of presidential
companions includes her daughter Puan Maharani, family friend
Retty Laksamana Sukardi, the wife of State Minister of State
Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi who is not in the team, political
observers Rizal Mallarangeng and Cornelis Lay and businessman
Yacub Nursalim, a brother of tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim.

A source said this time around the overseas trip would cost
the state Rp 22 billion (US$2.4 million).

The Alliance for New Indonesia estimated the President had
already spent $22.8 million on foreign trips this year, but no
officials would confirm the report.

Megawati will make her first stop in Johannesburg, where she
will be attending the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
Indonesia hosted the preparatory meeting for the summit in
Denpasar, Bali in April.

The South African visit will be the most significant, compared
to the rest of the trip which will take her to Hungary, Algeria,
Bosnia, Croatia and Egypt. A number of agreements or memorandums
of understanding (MoU) are expected to be signed during the trip.

Leaving Johannesburg on Sept. 5, Megawati will visit Algiers
to meet President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, a friend of her father,
founding president Sukarno.

She is also slated to sign four agreements, including
cooperation in the oil industry, since Indonesia has been
importing crude oil from Algeria over the past two years.

On Sept. 8, Megawati will fly to Hungary, where the two
countries will sign two MoUs, but no definite time has been set
for the meeting with President Freenc Madl and other high-ranking
officials from the country.

She will continue the trip to Bosnia, where she will spend
five hours to view the Istiqal mosque, built by former Indonesian
president Soeharto.

Then she will head to Croatia on Sept. 10 and will stay in the
country for two days.

The last leg of her trip will be Egypt, where there has yet to
be any confirmation on a meeting with President Hosni Mubarak.
There is, however, a confirmed visit to tourist sites such as
Luxor, Alexandria and a cruise along the river Nile. Foreign
minister Hassan Wirayuda once served as Indonesian ambassador to
Egypt.

Unlike former president Abdurrahman Wahid, who was also widely
criticized for his frequent and extensive overseas trips, but
never stayed long in one country, Megawati will spend at least
one day in each country to visit tourist resorts.

This would be her seventh tour since she took office in July
last year. Within the first year of her tenure, Megawati visited
more than 20 countries.

Former president Soeharto made his first overseas trip after
eight years in power, while his successor B.J. Habibie only went
abroad twice during his 16-month tenure.