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