President visits Habibie, plans to meet Soeharto

JAKARTA (JP): After having dinner with Gen. Wiranto on Friday night, President Abdurrahman Wahid continued his visits on Saturday by having breakfast with former president B.J. Habibie, with plans to meet Soeharto in the next few days.

During the visit to Habibie's residence in Patra Kuningan, South Jakarta, Abdurrahman offered to give Habibie a house.

Legally, as a former president, Habibie is entitled to be given a house by the state.

"By coincidence, there is a suitable house next to Pak Habibie's residence which can be presented to him," foreign minister Alwi Shihab, a close confidante of the President, said later in the day.

Apart from Alwi, Abdurrahman was accompanied by State Secretary Bondan Gunawan during the morning visit.

Law No. 7/1978 stipulates that former presidents and vice presidents are entitled to certain gratuities, including a pension, appropriate housing, a car and chauffeur, security guards and an exemption from paying telephone, water and electricity bills.

According to the law, former presidents and vice presidents will receive a pension equivalent to 100 percent of their basic salary, which, until recently, was officially set at Rp 15 million and Rp 10 million respectively.

The House of Representatives (DPR) budget committee on Wednesday agreed to raise the presidential and vice presidential salary by 78 percent and 120 percent.

Habibie controversially offered Soeharto in 1998 a Rp 26.6 billion housing allowance. The amount was estimated to be equal to the price of his newly built mansion at the Purna Bhakti Museum complex in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, East Jakarta.

Following a public outcry to the plan, Soeharto told Habibie to delay the transfer.

He said there was nothing of major importance which needed to be discussed during the visit.

"That's the President's style. By making informal visits he conducts nonverbal communication which is usually quite effective," Alwi said.

Alwi said the President also offered one of the Cabinet members to accompany Habibie during his planned visit to Germany on Monday.

Apart from undergoing a medical checkup, the former president is also slated to speak in front of German businessmen later this month.

Alwi said the President thought it may be a good idea if a Cabinet minister was present to attract potential investors.

During the 90-minute breakfast gathering, Abdurrahman also agreed to present a speech at the official opening of the Habibie Center here on May 22.

Alwi hinted that South Korean President Kim Dae Jung may also attend since "by chance, Abdurrahman has also invited the Korean president to Indonesia around those dates".

Soeharto

Speaking on the plans to meet Soeharto, Alwi said it was understandable for Abdurrrahman to visit the 78-year-old former president as he was his senior.

Alwi did not specify the exact date of the visit, saying only that it would be some time in the middle of next week and that Soeharto's eldest daughter, Siti Hardijanti Rukmana, better known as Tutut, had agreed to the visit.

"'I have told Tutut to take out her macan (tiger),'" Alwi quoted the President as saying, with reference to Soeharto as a tiger.

Alwi did not say whether checking Soeharto's health was part of the intention of the visit.

"Abdurrahman just wants to visit someone who is older. And besides, if Pak Harto is ill, then it will also be a courteous visit to a sick person," he said.

The true state of his health has been a point of contention in recent weeks as his lawyers claim that Soeharto is too ill to answer a summons to appear for an inquiry into his alleged corruption while president.

Alwi also said he did not know what the likely topic of discussion would be when the President visits Soeharto at his residence on Jl. Cendana, Central Jakarta.

"It all depends on Abdurrahman," Alwi said. (dja/prb)