VP to move office near to President's

VP to move office near to President's

JAKARTA: By next year Vice President Jusuf Kalla is expected to
have moved his office from the existing one on Jl. Medan Merdeka
Barat into the presidential palace complex.

Gembong Prijono, the secretary to the vice president, told The
Jakarta Post on Monday that the renovation of the new vice
presidential office would be completed by the end of this year.

"We have to renovate the fence for security reasons," he said.

The plan to move the Vice President's office closer to the
President's comes after speculation that Susilo and Kalla's
relationship had been strained recently. Kalla chairs the
powerful Golkar Party, the largest in the House of
Representatives.

The pair and presidential spokespeople have denied the
allegations, saying that while Kalla did often act on his own
initiative, he also regularly consulted Susilo. --JP