Soeharto stuns Japanese journalist

JAKARTA: Foreign correspondents raced to report on President Soeharto casting his ballot Thursday in the vain hope of him speaking to them like he did after voting in the 1992 election.

Just before leaving his neighborhood polling station on Jl. Cendana, Central Jakarta, Soeharto posed for photographers.

The atmosphere was relaxed and the journalists closed in on him, but no one dared to step forward and interview him. The local and foreign journalists nudged and encouraged each other, but no one moved until a reporter for Japanese TV station NHK was pushed to the front.

He held his microphone toward Soeharto but words failed him. After a moment's silence all he could manage was, "Er...er..." before Soeharto got into a Mercedes jeep and was driven away. (06)