President's planned Middle East tour riles the House

President's planned Middle East tour riles the House

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid once again raised a
few eyebrows when he announced that he would go abroad on Monday
for a three-country visit to the Middle East followed by the
Philippines despite the unsettled domestic strife.

The President will be going to Kuwait, Qatar and Jordan. He is
scheduled to address a meeting of the World Congress of Religion
and Peace, which he chairs, in Amman on Thursday.

This will be followed by his second visit to Manila in less
than three weeks to attend a meeting of leaders of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Nov. 28.

If all goes according to schedule, Abdurrahman will have spent
18 days visiting 13 countries in his 40 days in power until the
end of November.

Foreign ministry sources said he would squeeze in a visit to
Brunei prior to Manila and then go to China in the first week of
December.

News of another foreign tour prompted an immediate reaction
from House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung who
questioned the government's sense of urgency in handling the
multitude of domestic issues.

"I have said that the government, apart from having a sense of
crisis, must also have a sense of urgency. This means recognizing
what is urgent and what should become a priority," Akbar said on
Friday.

"Without taking away the importance of foreign affairs, the
government should recognize that domestic issues are no less
important and are in fact more crucial. This is especially so for
issues rising in several regions, in particular Aceh, which, if
not handled wisely, could create unwanted effects toward
disintegration."

"The bottom line is that domestic priorities must be put ahead
of foreign issues," he asserted.

Except for Brunei, Abdurrahman has visited all fellow
ASEAN member states and also Japan and the United States.

Foreign minister Alwi Shihab said that apart from giving an
address to the World Council of Religion and Peace the trip was
aimed at attracting investment from that region.

He said Iraq was initially planned in the trip, but due to the
tight schedule it was canceled. Alwi said the President would
send a special note to Iraq's President Saddam Hussein explaining
the change in plan.

"The Middle East seems to be very enthusiastic about taking
part in our economic recovery and they see a healthy atmosphere
for investments here," Alwi added.

Commenting on the criticism of the President's frequent
foreign trips, Alwi said: "The President cannot cancel this trip
because the date for speaking at the World Congress was set up
even before he became President." (02/04)