Habibie: A reformer and a democrat

Man of peace: A filepic of Habibie gesturing during an interview with European journalists at the Bina Graha presidential office in Jakarta. — AFP

Although some believed he was betrayed by his own party, he was a gentleman politician unfazed by all the lobbying and jostling around him. Hopefully history will be kind to a true Indonesian patriot.

I ATTENDED the 1995 annual meeting of Ikatan Cendekiawan Muslim Indonesia (Indonesian Association of Muslim Intellectuals), better-known as ICMI, in Jakarta as an observer. Something dramatic happened the day before the historic event. The then president of Indonesia, Suharto, fired the Minister of Trade, Prof Dr Satrio Budihardjo Joedono from his Cabinet.