SBY Issues Formal Complaint to Najib Over Former Malaysian Minister's Habibie Remarks

Former Malaysian Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin’s controversial claim that former Indonesian president B.J. Habibie was a traitor to his nation continued to make waves this week as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono raised concern over the statement during a meeting with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

Yudhoyono addressed the statement during his visit to Kuala Lumpur on Dec. 18 and 19, telling Najib that he regretted that a one-time Malaysian official could be quoted saying such things about a former Indonesian president in local press.

“I hope, and I expressed this to Najib, that we can prevent matters like this from continuing to happen,” Yudhoyono said at a press conference at Halim Perdanakusumah airport in East Jakarta.

The Malaysian Prime Minister reportedly told Yudhoyono that Zainuddin’s statement was his own opinion and was made after the former minister met with Habibie. Najib told the President that it was election season in Malaysia and many issues had become sensitive.

Yudhoyono told the press conference that he could not see any reason to insult a former Indonesian head of state.

“For me, whether there will be an election or not, everyone should mutually protect each other and should not discredit heads of state or former heads of state of other countries,” he said.

Zainuddin called Habibie a traitor to the nation who bowed to Western pressure to issue a referendum that allowed East Timor to secede from the nation, according to quotes published in the local Utusan Malaysia newspaper on Monday.

Zainuddin echoed statements made by opposition candidate and former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim calling Habibie a “dog of imperialism” who undermined the Suharto regime.

- JakartaGlobe