President criticized for overnight stop in S'pore

President criticized for overnight stop in S'pore

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Megawati Soekarnoputri came under fire on Sunday for
stopping over in Singapore on her way to Malaysia to attend a
two-day summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

She and her entourage left Jakarta on Saturday for Singapore,
where they overnighted for unknown reasons, and arrived in Kuala
Lumpur on Sunday at 8:30 a.m.

Critics lashed out at Megawati for not proceeding directly to
Malaysia and instead making a brief visit to the neighboring
city-state, a move which they said failed to reduce state fund
expenditures for the trip.

Chairman of the Justice Party Hidayat Nurwahid, one of the
critics, said the president and other Indonesian delegates should
have flown directly to Kuala Lumpur for the NAM Summit on Monday.

"I have no idea why they had to stay the night in Singapore,"
he said, as quoted by Antara.

Nurwahid said arriving in Malaysia several days prior to the
summit could have been used by Megawati to lobby other NAM member
countries in an effort to solicit support for Indonesia's stance
against the U.S. on the Iraq issue.

There was no official statement from Megawati's aides as to
why the president made the brief visit to Singapore, which is
generally known to be her favorite shopping destination.

She has also visited the neighboring city-state for occasional
medical checkups.

Megawati's husband, Taufik Kiemas, flew to Malaysia to join
his wife on Sunday, after he had led a street rally held earlier
in the day by her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
Perjuangan) to show support for the president.