Megawati scheduled to make first formal overseas trip

JAKARTA (JP): After complaining about President Abdurrahman Wahid's frequent trips abroad, Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri will eventually make her first formal overseas trip on Sunday: a three-day visit to Singapore.

According to her official itinerary, issued by the Vice Presidential office on Wednesday, Megawati's visit will be a combination of work and private matters, because she will also undergo a general medical check-up there.

The vice president will arrive in Singapore in the afternoon. In the evening, Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will host a dinner for her.

"On Tuesday, Ibu Mega will undergo a general check-up at the Mt. Elizabeth Hospital. But this is purely a private matter," an official of the Merdeka Selatan Palace said on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, she will deliver a key note speech in an international conference on cooperative movements in the Asia Pacific region, before flying home in the evening.

After meeting with Abdurrahman, who just returned from a two- week overseas trip, the vice president went to Surabaya to inspect the Naval base there.

She continued her trip to Bali and Yogyakarta in her capacity as the chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan). She will also visit Bandung on Saturday afternoon.

Before contesting in the presidential election in October, Megawati also checked her health in Singapore. At that time her aides insisted that Megawati just wanted to be sure that her medical record would not be leaked and misused for the election.

The vice president recently complained that she could only visit the regions while the President had visited tens of foreign countries.

She has made a few private foreign trips, including the controversial visit to Hong Kong at the year's end and a private visit to Singapore in April. The President was reportedly upset with her visit to Hong Kong and asked her to cut her visit there.

Apart from the trip, the vice president is also scheduled to announce her new team to assist her in her daily activities.

According to Vice Presidential Secretary Bambang Kesowo, Megawati will likely announce the new team next Thursday.

"Insya Allah (God willing), the announcement will be made on June 29," Bambang recently told The Jakarta Post. (prb)