Tutut 'opposes' her father's reelection

Tutut 'opposes' her father's reelection

SEMARANG (JP): President Soeharto's eldest daughter, Siti
Hardiyanti Rukmana, said yesterday she would prefer if her father
were not reelected so he could spend more time with his family.

"I am speaking honestly here, and only Allah knows," Mbak
Tutut, as she is popularly known, said addressing thousands of
students at Semarang's Diponegoro University. "If you ask me...
my answer is: I personally don't want him to be president again
because he never had time for his family."

"For years now, he has had only a little time for us," said
Hardiyanti.

"Let me say the truth and use my right (as a daughter), rather
than observing my duties. I beg you (the nation) not to (reelect
him).

"But then it's not me who would be reelecting him, but the
people of Indonesia," she said.

Hardiyanti is a leader of the ruling Golkar group which has
officially declared its intention to renominate Soeharto to his
seventh consecutive term next March. She is also a member of the
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) which will convene next
March to elect a president and vice president and endorse the
1998/2003 State Policy Guidelines.

Responding to a student's query about Soeharto's health, she
said: "He's healthy now. Please God, may he be able to finish the
duties that the people have mandated to him until next March. May
he be given the strength to carry on."

"As for the future, we leave everything to the people and God,
this is not yet the time to talk about the next president," she
said. "The MPR assembly hasn't even begun. Let's wait and see."

"The highest power is in the hands of the MPR," she said. "If
he is deemed incompetent, don't reelect him. Don't choose a
president out of deference, but see if he is capable."

Regarding some people's intention to name her a vice
presidential candidate, Hardiyanti demurred. "I have limited
capability," she said. "But if this is the command of the people,
then whoever and wherever a person is, he or she must do it."

"But... if the father is the president, wouldn't it be funny
if the daughter became the vice president?" she said. "Would it
be appropriate for the child of a president to become the vice
president?" (har/swe)