Singapore anxious over MPR session

JAKARTA (JP): The final week of the General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly appears to be an uneasy spell of time for not only the country, but its neighbor Singapore.

A number of Singaporean business circle told Antara in Batam, Riau on Thursday how they were watching the course of the session through all available media.

They said they were aware of President B.J. Habibie's accountability speech before the Assembly on Thursday and the presidential election next Wednesday the most.

Their ears were glued to a local radio station Warna Singapura which broadcast a talk show on presidential candidates recently. The radio interviewed political observer Mochtar Pabottingi and Assembly speaker Amien Rais.

"If the analysis comes true, we will lose interest in capital investment in Indonesia," a businessman Lee Sau Wee said after hearing the broadcast.

Mochtar told the radio that Habibie's reelection would generate political instability, while Amien suggested that Indonesian leave the issue to the Assembly. (amd)