COMMENTS BY MFA SPOKESMAN IN RESPONSE TO MEDIA QUERIES ON
INDONESIAN PRESIDENT ABDURRAHMAN WAHID'S REMARKS ON SM LEE KUAN YEW
Responding to press queries on the Bangkok Post report (17 December 2000) that quoted President Abdurrahman Wahid as saying that SM Lee Kuan Yew had suggested that he (Abdurrahman Wahid) might "step down in two months" during an interview in Australia, an MFA spokesman clarified with the following:
2 On 27 November 2000, media reports stated that President Abdurrahman Wahid had said that SM Lee thought that he (President Abdurrahman Wahid) would step down soon when they met in Singapore. In our response, we pointed out that SM Lee had not said that the days of President Abdurrahman Wahid's government were numbered. SM Lee had no reason to say or suggest this to President Abdurrahman Wahid.
3 President Abdurrahman Wahid has now apparently told the Bangkok Post that SM Lee made the suggestion that he (President Abdurrahman Wahid) might "step down in two months". He now claimed that SM Lee had said this in an interview in Australia, and not at their recent meeting in Singapore. As stated in our earlier press statement, SM Lee had no reason to do so. Had SM Lee done so, it would surely have made headline news.
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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
19 DECEMBER 2000