Minister gets earful on return to campus

BOGOR, West Java: Minister of Agriculture Soleh Solahuddin upon his return to the Bogor Institute of Technology (IPB), where he still serves as rector, was forced to defend his decision to accept the ministerial appointment.

Farid R. Fakih, a former chairman of the IPB student council, said, during a discussion with the minister yesterday, that he was exasperated at the decision and said it was a travesty against the memory of the slain students in the reform movement.

"The blood of our heroes have not dried, but we are already accepting a seat on the throne. We are all ashamed to members of the IPB family," he charged.

"Such a post should only be accepted once the reform process is completed," Farid charged.

Calmly, the minister responded that his decision to accept the post was in fact a move to push the reform agenda forward.

"If you all are pushing for reform from the outside, then I am struggling to make reforms from the inside," he argued.

Soleh was one of the 16 new faces brought in by newly sworn in President B.J. Habibie in his 36-member cabinet. (24)