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.