INDONESIA JOINS M'SIA IN PROVING ISLAM IN TANDEM WITH DEMOCRACY

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 (Bernama) -- Indonesian President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono said his country wishes to join Malaysia in proving to the world that
Islam is in tandem with modern democracy.

He said the republic also wanted to be together with other Muslim countries
in developing a model and proving that Islam too shared the same values as the
other civilisations.

"Musa Hitam (a former deputy prime minister of Malaysia) is right, Indonesia
like Malaysia wishes to prove that there is no conflict between democracy and
Islam. I had just spoken at Harvard University (in the United States) that it is
not true that Islam and democracy are incompatible.

"Let us prove that Islamic values also contain values possessed by other
civilisations," he said when delivering a speech at a luncheon in conjunction
with his official visit to this country, here Thursday.

The luncheon was organised by the Council For The Promotion of
Malaysia-Indonesia Relations chaired by Musa. Also present at the function was
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Earlier, in his speech welcoming the presence of the Indonesian President,
Musa said Susilo's victory in the presidential election for the second term
consecutively proved that democracy could survive even in a developing Muslim
country.

"Whenever the name SBY (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono) is mentioned, it
immediately brings an image that he is an Indonesian president who has created
history for being elected for the second time in an open democracy.

"He proves to the international community that democracy does works in a
developing society," he said.

Musa attributed Susilo's success in winning the election for the second time

to his strong administration which not only succeeded in improving his
country's economy but also making other significant changes.

"The President proved that he was serious in eliminating negative elements
in the Indonesian administration which had adversely affected the Indonesian
people. Now we are seeing success (although) slowly but surely moving forward,"
he said.

In his speech before more than 200 business leaders from Malaysia and
Indonesia, Susilo expressed his gratitude to the Malaysian community for the
encouraging response he had received.

"I come with the sincere intention of bringing a message of friendship from
the people of Indonesia for the Malaysian people and let us greet our future
with great optimism and good intention, and with positive thinking that Malaysia
and Indonesia will be stronger and can cooperate more closely. In fact, we will
become an important component in the development towards a more peaceful, just
and democratic world," he said.

Susilo also said that he had great respect for Malaysia in the various
fields and had learnt much from this country.

The Indonesian President arrived here on Wednesday with his wife, Ani
Bambang Yudhoyono, on a two-day official visit.

Malaysia is the first country that he is visiting since taking his oath of
office as president for the second term in October.
-- BERNAMA