Megawati goes all out on welfare tour
The Jakarta Post, Mataram/Surabaya
President Megawati Soekarnoputri visited West Nusa Tenggara on Tuesday, where she handed over government grants worth Rp 17 billion (US$1.8million) for community development at district level across the province.
The grants were formally transferred to 10 district chiefs at the opening of a national applied technology exhibition here.
During the one-day visit, the President observed operations on two harelip patients and donated two ambulances to Mataram General Hospital.
Megawati, who is up against her former senior security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the election runoff on Sept. 20, has been touring the country in the past month to meet as many constituents as possible.
Earlier on Sunday, Susilo visited West Nusa Tenggara to attend the anniversary celebration of the Nahdlatul Wathon Muslim organization.
In the first round of the election in July, Megawati did poorly in West Nusa Tenggara and other eastern parts of Indonesia, such as Papua and Sulawesi.
Accompanying her on the visit were Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno and State Minister of Research and Technology Hatta Radjasa.
At the opening of the exhibition, the President launched 5,054 technology service centers, which will operate in villages across the country.
Later in the day, the President journeyed to Timika in Papua, where she will stay overnight before attending another event.
She is slated to address a national meeting of the country's church leaders in the Papua capital of Jayapura, during which she will also participate in a discussion.
A presidential palace official told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that Megawati's husband Taufik Kiemas would accompany her in Papua.
The church leaders also invited Susilo, who will be represented by his running mate Jusuf Kalla. Kalla is scheduled to present his team's vision and mission before the church leaders at Sentani Hotel in Jayapura on Tuesday evening.
The Susilo-Kalla pair won over 80 percent of the vote in the province in the first round of the election.
Susilo visited Surabaya on Tuesday to attend a dialog with the Rectors Forum.
He said, after the meeting, he was intensifying talks with Nahdlatul Ulama and National Awakening Party (PKB) leaders ahead of the runoff.
"I have approached the top leaders of the PKB on several occasions, but not to form a coalition. I will also pay more visits to NU supporters in the grass roots and senior clerics," Susilo said.
He said he would not seek to form a coalition until he had secured the presidency.
"I reaffirm my stance not to hold coalition talks with any political party (before the runoff). That doesn't mean I do not need their support, but I respect the electoral process," he said.
During his visit to Surabaya, Susilo also met with executives of the NU youth wing Ansor and the Inter-Churches Consultative Body, as well as NU clerics Mas Subadar, Lutfi and Sholeh Khozim.