MEGAWATI TO BUILD NATION'S CHARACTER IF ELECTED

Kupang, Jan 9 (ANTARA) - Former president Megawati Soekarnoputri said here on Friday she would give attention to character and nation building if elected in the presidential election later this year.
"If they ask me what will you do if you are elected president my answer will be : I will develop the nation's character and mentality," she said at a Christmas celebration with the people in East Nusa Tenggara here on Friday.
She said many countries had so far been able to make fast progress in various fields because their people had strong character and mentality.
The character and mentality of the Indonesian people had to be rebuilt or otherwise they would again be colonized, she said.
"I have toured three quarters of the globe so far and I have seen many countries that have been very successful in their economic development because of the strong character and mentality of their peoples. If we continue to sleep, we will be colonized again," she said.
She said during her three years as president, she had always rejected foreign assistance because she did not want to rock the Indonesian people to sleep.
"I said foreign aid is not assistance but a debt, and as a debt it has to be repaid. So stop it. Do not make my people go to sleep," she said before around 5,000 people attending the event.
On her recent visit to a gold mine in Papua, she said "I was shocked to see Papua's natural richness but the question now is when will the Indonesian people manage it by themselves."
In view of that, she said re-building the nation's character would be very strategic with regard to making the country to progress to equal others.
Megawati has been touring Indonesia's eastern regions since January 6 including Papua, Maluku, Manado and Ujungpandang.