Celine Dion taken to hospital ahead of birth of twins

Singer Celine Dion, pictured here on January 2010, has entered hospital in the US state of Florida in a precautionary move to prevent her twins from being born early, medical officials said Monday.

October 18, 2010 (KATAKAMI / FRANCE 24/ AFP) – Canadian pop diva Celine Dion has entered hospital in the US state of Florida in a precautionary move to prevent her twins from being born early, medical officials said Monday.

“Celine Dion has been admitted to St Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida for observation at the recommendation of her doctors,” the hospital said in a statement.

Hospitalizing Dion, 42, was an effort by doctors “to prevent the early delivery of her babies which is the standard of care for any patient with twin pregnancy in this clinical setting.”

The “My Heart Will Go On” singer and her husband-manager Rene Angelil, 68, who have a nine-year-old son, are expecting twin boys, Dion announced on her website in July.

The pregnancy was the result of Dion’s sixth in-vitro fertilization attempt, according to reports.
On Monday the hospital sought to refute rumors that Dion had made specific demands on the facility, including reports that she was planning a C-section delivery on a particular day in late October.

“She is not scheduled at any predetermined date for her delivery,” the hospital said. “She has not requested or selected any particular staff, or accommodations not available to other patients.”

Dion, a five-time Grammy winner, is expected to return to Las Vegas, Nevada, next March to begin a three-year residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace.

Penghargaan UGM Untuk Ann Dunham Obama Adalah Kabar Baik Yang Menyentuh Hati

Stanley Ann Dunham Obama bersama rakyat pedesaan yang dikunjunginya di wilayah Lombok, NTB (Indonesia)

 
Dimuat juga di KATAKAMIDOTCOMNEWSINDONESIA.WORDPRESS.COM
 
KENANGLAH STANLEY ANN DUNHAM OBAMA, PAHLAWAN TANPA TANDA JASA
 
FILM OBAMA ANAK MENTENG, KADO BURUK UNTUK OBAMA DI HARI KEMERDEKAAN AMERIKA
 
Obama Elegan Wujudkan Impian Ras Hitam Terbelakang
 


Jakarta 18/10/2010 (KATAKAMI) — Ya, kabar baik datang dari Kampus Bulak Sumur atau Universitas Gajah Mada Jogjakarta. UGM akan memberikan penghargaan kepada Almarhumah Stanley Ann Dunham Obama yang notabene adalah Ibunda dari Presiden AS Barack Obama dan Maya Soetoro Ng.
 

Seperti yang diberitakan oleh DETIK.COM (18/10/2010), Ibunda presiden Amerika Serikat Barack Obama, Dr Stanley Ann Dunham akan mendapatkan penghargaan dari Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) karena dinilai telah berjasa dalam mengembangkan ekonomi kerakyatan, khususnya bagi masyakarat Bantul dan Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta.
 
“Kita memberikan penghargaan pada orang-orang yang peduli pada ekonomi kerakyatan,” ujar Rektor Universitas Gadjah Mada, Sudjarwadi.
 
Menurut Sudjarwadi, dari berbagai literatur yang telah ditelusuri, Ann Dunham mengerjakan disertasinya tentang ekonomi kerakyatan khususnya pada masyakarat pandai besi dan kerajinan tangan.
 
“Kita menemukan Ann Dunham bekerja dan memberikan cintanya untuk masyarakat,” kata Sudjarwadi.
Dari kacamata akademik, Ann Dunham seorang antropologis ekonomi dan fokus penelitiannya adalah masyarakat ekonomi yang terpinggirkan seperti para pandai besi dan peran wanita di pedesaan.
 
“Kita gabungkan dengan metode Pak Mubiyarto yang membawanya ke dalam level teoritis,” terangnya.
 
 

Stanley Ann Dunham Obama saat berkunjung ke Toraja, Sulawesi Selatan

 


Tidak banyak yang tahu bahwa sesungguhnya sosok Stanley Ann Dunham, sudah lebih dulu berkiprah secara nyata di Indonesia.
 
Walau memang, tidak secara khusus berkelana di panggung-panggung politik.
 
Ann Soetoro menyelesaikan pendidikannya di jurusan antropologi University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM).
Di kampus itu, di kelas bahasa Rusia, ia bertemu dengan Barack Hussein Obama Senior, mahasiswa jurusan ekonomi dari Kenya. Pernikahan mereka tak berlangsung lama.
 
Obama Junior lahir di tahun 1961.
 
Tak lama, kedua orangtuanya berpisah. Obama Senior melanjutkan pendidikan ke Harvard University. Dia pernah kembali ke Hawaii di tahun 1980.
 
Itu adalah pertemuan terahirnya dengan Obama Junior.
 
Obama Senior meninggal dunia dalam sebuah kecelakaan lalu lintas di Kenya tahun 1982.
 
Sementara itu, tahun 1967, setelah meraih gelar sarjana dari jurusan itu dan menikah dengan pria Indonesia, Lolo Soetoro, Ann Soetoro berangkat ke Indonesia.
 
Obama yang baru berusia enam tahun dibawa serta.
 
Tahun 1971 Obama kembali ke Hawaii, dan melanjutkan pendidikannya di Punahou School sampai tamat di tahun 1979 dan pindah ke mainland.
 
Adapun Ann Soetoro tetap tinggal di Indonesia sampai tahun 1973, ketika ia kembali ke Hawaii untuk meraih gelar master di jurusan antorpologi.
 
Ann Soetoro kembali ke Hawaii bersama Maya Soetoro, buah cintanya dengan Lolo Soetoro.
Di tahun 1976, setelah gelar master diraih, Ann Soetoro dan Maya kembali ke Indonesia.
Kali ini Obama tidak ikut serta.
 
Di Indonesia, Ann Soetoro bekerja sebagai peneliti pada berbagai lembaga penelitian, Ford Foundation, USAID, juga pernah menjadi konsultan untuk Bank Rakyat Indonesia.
 
Kecintaannya pada Indonesia, terutama kehidupan masyarakat kecil di pedesaan, semakin besar.
Gelar doktor diraihnya tahun 1992.
 
Bersamaan dengan itu kariernya menanjak. Di tahun 1993 dia bekerja di Women’s World Bank di New York. Tahun 1995 Ann Soetoro meninggal dunia karena kanker rahim yang dia derita setahun sebelumnya.
 
Jenazah Ann Soetoro dikremasi. Dan abunya ditebarkan di pantai selatan Pulau Oahu, ke arah Indonesia.
Di Indonesia ini, Ann – panggilan Stanley Ann Dunham – pernah tinggal sangat lama. Terutama setelah perkawinan pertamanya dengan pria keturunan Kenya (Barack Obama Senior, red) kandas.
 
Cintanya yang tertaut pada seorang pria Indonesia (Lolo Soetoro, red) , menjadi jalan pembuka bagi Ann untuk mengenal, datang, tinggal, bekerja dan akhirnya begitu mencintai Indonesia secara total.
Ann memang memiliki dan menjalani karier profesionalnya di Indonesia.
 
 

Kiri ke Kanan : Lolo Soetoro, Ann Dunham, Barack Obama Jr & Maya (dipangku oleh Ann Dunham)

 

 
Lebih detail tentang pekerjaannya adalah antara bulan Januari 1968 sampai Desember 1969, Ann bekerja sebagai Asistem Direktur Lembaga Indonesia – Amerika di Jakarta.
 
Bulan Januari 1970 sampai Agustus 1972, Ann adalah Direktur LembagaPendidikan & Pengembangan Manajemen yang tugas utamanya adalah melakukan supervisi penerbitan buku-buku pendidikan dan manajemennya.
 
Tahun 1977, Ann kembali ke Jakarta dan bekerja sebagai Instruktur di Balai Perencanaan Pembangunan Nasional (Bappenas). Setahun kemudian yaitu tahun 1978, ia menjadi Konsultan di Kantor Perwakilan International Labour Organization (ILO) di Jakarta.
 
Tahun 1978 – 1980 juga, Ann menjadi Konsultan pembangunan pedesaan USAID di Departemen Perindustrian RI. Di masa menjadi Konsultan USAID inilah, Ann aktif mengunjungi desa-desa terpencil di pedalaman Pulau Jawa untuk secara khusus membantu KAUM PEREMPUAN yang miskin.
 
Tahun 1981 – November 1984, Ann menjadi Supervisor Program Pemberdayaan Perempuan di FORD FOUNDATION ASIA TENGGARA yang memiliki kantor perkawinannya di Jakarta.
 
Kemudian tahun 1988 (setelah bekerja di Asia Development Bank atau ADB di Pakistan), Ann kembali ke Jakarta dan menjadi Koordinator Riset dan Konsultan di Bank Rakyat Indonesia.
 
Ia turun langsung melakukan pelatihan-pelatihan karyawan di 7 provinsi dan membantu skema mikro kredit bagi rakyat miskin dan menganalisa data-data.
 
 

Stanley Ann Dunham Obama saat mengunjungi para pengrajin di pedesaan

 
 
Seluruh dunia boleh saja mengenal Barack Obama.
 
Ya betul, dia adalah tokoh sangat amat penting yang saat ini memiliki posisi atau jabatan yang sangat amat berpengaruh di dunia internasional.
 
Tapi jika bicara mengenai sosok (Almarhumah) Stanley Ann Dunham Obama, perempuan yang sangat amat pintar ini sudah lebih dulu menggunakan posisi dan pengaruhnya untukmembantu rakyat Indonesia di berbagai pedesaan.
 
Ann sangat dikenal dan masih tetap dikenang sampai saat ini oleh masyarakat di DI Yogyakarta.
 
Dalam sebuah pertemuan dengan KATAKAMI.COM,  wartawan Senior dari Harian Kompas, Budiarto Shambazy menyampaikan pandangannya tentang sosok Ann Dunham :
 
“Keluarga Obama ini punya tradisi sebagai Keluarga Intelektual. Lihatlah Barack dan Maya, mereka semua Intelektual. Kalau dikategorikan maka Ann ini adalah Indonesianis. Ann ini turun ke bawah, dia datangi Pasar Bringharjo (di DI Yogyakarta), kasongan, kasongan sekarang kita ribut karena industry kasongan maju di Bantul. Sementara Ann sudah menuliskan itu terlebih dahulu puluhan tahun yang lalu” kata Budiarto Shambazy.
 
Menurutnya, Ann Dunham adalah seorang ilmuwan sejati yang mengakar.
 
“Ann ini memang seorang aktivis yang aksesnya jauh lebih bagus dari ilmuwan lain yang bisanya cuma duduk di perpustakaan dan wawancara orang. Nah, Ann ini adalah tipikal Indonesianis yang giat bekerja, aktif di bidang yang dia tekuni. Ann itu berhadapan dengan kalangan miskin. Jadi kalau kita mau mengenal Amerika, jangan cuma tahu Amerika karena faktor George Bush doang, atau Holywood doing. Ann ini lho contoh “The Real American”.
 
Lalu, di mata Budiarto Shambazy yang juga merupakan Pengamat Politik Amerika, sosok Ann Dunham adalah pribadi yang memang sangat mengesankan.
 
“Ann itu berani melawan zamannya. Dia tidak boleh menikah dengan lelaki hitam tetapi ia lawan. Padahal resikonya besar. Untunglah dia tinggal diHonolulu yang menjadi sarangnya liberal. Ann adalah tipe perempuan pemberani. Setelah pernikahan pertamanya gagal, ia menikah dengan pria Indonesia. Dia tidak pernah dan tidak suka dengan pria-pria bule. Semua ini menunjukkan Ann Dunham berani menerjang badai, melawan arus” lanjut  Budiarto Shambazy.
 
Budiarto Shambazy juga menambahkan bahwa Ann Dunham adalah layak untuk dihargai.
 
“Saya pribadi pernah mendengar ini secara langsung di Pasar Bringharjo sana. Masih banyak, penduduk-penduduk desa yang tetap mengenal Ann. Itu tidak bisa dipungkiri. Peran Ann Dunham sangat legendaris disana. Barangkali lebih dari ratusan orang-orang kecil di Pasar Bringharjo sana yang tetap mengingat dan mengenang Ann Dunham. Saya wawancarai penduduk di Paku Alaman sana, mereka semua tetap ingat dan sangat mengenang dengan baik sosok Ann. Mereka tidak pernah melupakan Ann. Ya memang, yang mengenal dan mengenang Ann disana adalah orang-orang tak berdaya, yang tidak punya identitas. Mereka bukan orang-orang terkenal. Tapi disanalah, Ann dikenal dan dikenang secara legendaris selama puluhan tahun ini” ungkap Budiarto Shambazy.
 
 

Stanley Ann Dunham Obama bersama-sama rekan-rekan kerjanya di Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) di era tahun 1989

 

Kabar tentang rencana pemberian penghargaan dari UGM untuk Ann Dunham ini adalah kabar baik yang patut dihargai.
 
Setidaknya kita sebagai bangsa, bisa secara tulus menyampaikan ekspresi dan ungkapan rasa terimakasih kepada orang yang tepat.
 
Ann sudah sepantasnya diberi penghargaan ( walaupun sebenarnya sangat terlambat ).
Bukan karena ia adalah ibu dari seorang Presiden Amerika.
 
Tetapi karena ia memang sungguh-sungguh berjasa bagi orang-orang kecil dan rakyat-rakyat pedesaan di Indonesia karena semasa hidupnya Ann mengabdikan betul-betul hidupnya dengan penuh totalitas untuk membantu kalangan tak berdaya di negeri kita ini.
 
Ketika itu, Barack Obama masih sangat kanak-kanak.
 
Boleh saja pada saat ini Barack Obama dikenal oleh seluruh dunia karena posisinya yang sangat bergengsi.
Tetapi sang ibu yang lahir di Kansas tanggal 29 November 1942 ini, pada puluhan tahun yang lalu sudah lebih dulu melanglang buana melakukan banyak misi-misi yang sangat baik dan menyentuh hati.
 
Mengenai kisah kehidupannya yang sempat singgah di Indonesia, Barack Obama menceritakannya dalam buku “DREAMS FROM MY FATHER” sebagai berikut :
 
“Kami tinggal di Indonesia selama tiga tahun waktu itu, sebagai hasil dari pernikahan ibuku dengan seseorang berkebangsaan Indonesia bernama Lolo, mahasiswa lain yang ditemui ibuku di Universitas Hawaii. Nama lelaki itu berarti “gila” dalam bahasa Hawaii, yang membuat Kakek selalu tertawa geli. Namun, arti nama tersebut tidak sesuai untuk lelak itu karena Lolo memiliki tingkah laku yang baik dan lemah lembut terhadap orang lain. (termuat dalam halaman 53).
 
Salah satu yang cukup menarik dalam buku ini – sekaligus yang cukup menggelikan – adalah saat Obama mengisahkan bagaimana kakek dan neneknya sangat sibuk membantu persiapan Ann Dunham dan Obama Junior pindah ke Indonesia.
 
“Toot (yang artinya Tutu atau dalam bahasa Kenya diartikan sebagai panggilan kepada Nenek) masih saja bersikeras agar kami membawa koper yang penuh dengan perbekalan tang, susu bubuk, berkaleng-kaleng sarden. “kau tak pernah tahu mereka itu makan apa,” ujarnya tegas. Ibuku menghela napas, namun Toot memasukkan beberapa kotak permen agar aku lebih membelanya daripada Ibu (termuat dalam halaman 54).

 

Prof. Alice Dewey berpose dengan memegang buku DISERTASI Ann Dunham Obama berjudul “Pendekar-pendekar Besi Nusantara: Kajian Antropologis tentang Pandai Besi di Indonesia“. Judul asli disertasi yang diselesaikan Ann Soetoro pada tahun 1992 ini adalah “Peasant Blacksmithing in Indonesia: Surviving and Thriving Against all Odds“. 

 

Yang kini perlu diingatkan kepada UGM, janganlah terpaku hanya kepada Presiden Barack Obama atau Maya Soetoro Ng sebagai orang yang “wajib datang” menerima penghargaan ini.
 
Sebab belum tentu kedua kakak-adik bersaudara (tiri) ini bisa datang menerima penghargaan untuk ibu mereka.
 
Langkah UGM yang mencoba berkoordinasi dengan Kedutaan Besar Amerijka di Indonesia sudah betul tetapi carilah lagi cara-cara lain untuk mematangkan rencana pemberian penghargaan ini.
 
Ann memiliki banyak sahabat di Indonesia, salah satunya adalah Julia Suryakusuma.
 
Ann juga memiliki seseorang yang sangat berjasa dalam kehidupannya yaitu Prof. Alice Dewey.
 
Prof Alice yang memiliki nama berbau Indonesia yaitu SURATMI ini, adalah Ketua Komite Ph.D bagi Ann Dunham.
 
Dalam kata perngantarnya pada buku Disertasi Ann Dunham (yang sudah diterjemahkan juga ke dalam bahasa Indonesia), Profesor Alice Dewey menuliskan sebagai berikut  :
 
“Pada tahun 1967, Ann Dunham (dikenal juga sebagai Ann Soetoro) pindah ke Indonesia dengan putranya Barack Obama (dari pernikahan pertamanya) dan suaminya yang beretnis Jawa, Lolo Soetoro. Saat itu, Ann sudah mendapat gelar B.A dari University of Hawaii dalam bidang Antropologi dan merupakan penenun yang mahir. Oleh karena itu, mudah dipahami mengapa Ann sangat tertarik pada keaneka-ragaman cultural Indonesia dan pada berbagai kerajinan, terutama batik yang elegan dan kain tenun ikat”.
Selanjutnya Profesor Alice Dewey menuliskan juga :
 
“Ann berkenalan dengan penduduk desa, terutama pada pengrajin. Ann tidak hanya menghargai kompleksitas kerajinan, tetapi juga nilai ekonominya sebagai sumber pendapatan. Ann melakukan banyak sekali penelitian di Indonesia dalam beragam kerajinan tadi, terutama mencakup kerajinan besi, kain (batik, tenun ikat dan sebagainya), kulit (wayang kulut dan lain sebagainya), keramik (peralatan dapur dan patung) dan keranjang”.

 

Barack Obama & Maya Soetoro Ng

 

Bulan November memang bulan yang sangat istimewa untuk Ann Dunham.
 
Di bulan November itulah, Ann berulang tahun tanggal 29 November 1942.
 
Di bulan November itu jugalah, Ann meninggal dunia tanggal 7 November 1995.
 
(Di bulan November 2008, Obama terpilih sebagai Presiden Amerika ke 44 )
 
(Di bulan November 2009, Obama membatalkan rencana kunjungannya ke Indonesia)
 
(Dan direncanakan di bulan November 2010 yang akan datang, Presiden Obama akan berkunjung ke Indonesia).
 
Dan dengan adanya rencana penghargaan untuk Ann Dunham ini, diperkirakan pemberian penghargaan itu akan dilaksanakan pada bulan November yang akan datang.
 
Tetapi, UGM tak perlu terpaku pada rencana kunjungan Obama agar misalnya penghargaan itu bisa diterima atau disaksikan penerimaannya oleh Presiden Obama sekeluarga atau Maya Soetoro Ng.
 
Kalau Presiden Barack Obama menunda kembali rencana kedatangannya ke Indonesia (sehingga otomatis Maya Soetoro Ng juga tak bisa ikut berkunjung ke Indonesia) maka UGM bisa memberikan penghargaan itu melalui Duta Besar Amerika untuk Indonesia SCOTT MARCIEL.
 
Atau UGM bisa mulai menjajaki pemberian penghargaan itu kepada Prof Alice Dewey, orang yang paling berjasa dalam kehidupan Ann saat ia melakukan penelitian di Indonesia.
 
Prof Alice Dewey pasti akan dengan senang hati akan menerima undangan dari UGM untuk datang kembali ke Indonesia untuk menerima penghargaan dari KAMPUS BULAK SUMUR untuk murid kesayangannya ini.
 
Terbukti pada tanggal 18 Maret 2010, Prof Alice Dewey bersedia datang dari Hawaii untuk menjadi pembicara dalam Seminar internasional yang diberi judul “Ann Dunham Soetoro dan Ekonomi Kerakyatan” di Jakarta.
 
Dengan kata lain, rencana pemberian penghargaan itu jangan hanya terpaku pada Obama atau Maya (walaupun memang secara teoritis, Obama dan Maya adalah orang paling pantas menerima penghargaan untuk ibu mereka).
 
Walaupun UGM sudah mulai melakukan korespondensi dengan Maya Soetoro Ng tetapi tetaplah menyiapkan berbagai langkah antisipasi.
 
Agar makna dibalik penghargaan itu tetap sangat terjaga secara baik.
 
Ann Dunham memang berjasa untuk Indonesia.
 
Ia mencintai Indonesia dan telah mengabdikan dirinya untuk kepentingan rakyat kecil tak berdaya lewat kebijakan-kebijakan dan praktek nyata ekonomi kerakyatannya.
 
Tak sebanding memang, penghargaan ini dengan jasa-jasa dan seluruh perhatian serta kebaikan Ann kepada rakyat pedesaan di Indonesia semasa hidupnya.
 
Tetapi setidaknya, ada “sesuatu” yang sangat monumental diberikan untuk Almarhumah Ann.
 
Setulus Ann melakukan banyak kebaikan di Indonesia, setulus itu jugalah Indonesia harus membalasnya.
Walau sangat terlambat.
 
Menutup tulisan ini, rasanya tepat mencantumkan sebuah puisi berjudul AKU INGIN yang diciptakan oleh Sapardi Djoko Damono :
 
Aku ingin mencintaimu dengan sederhana
Lewat kata yang tak sempat disampaikan
awan kepada air yang menjadikannya tiada
Aku ingin mencintaimu dengan sederhana
Dengan kata yang tak sempat diucapkan
Kayu kepada api yang menjadikannya abu
 
Terimakasih Ibu Ann, untuk cinta dan semua kebaikan anda dulu kepada Indonesia.
 
Izinkan lewat penghargaan yang sederhana ini, ada yang secara nyata mengenangmu dengan sederhana tapi sangat menyentuh hati.
 
(MS)

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague interview with Adam Boulton ( Sky News )

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague

October 17, 2010 (KATAKAMI / FCO.GOV.UK ) — Foreign Secretary, William Hague discussed defence spending, Iran and the World Cup bid on Sky News.

Adam Boulton (Sky News): This coming week will undoubtedly be the coalition Government’s most important yet, the announcement of the Strategic Defence and Comprehensive Spending Reviews will frame the terms of British politics and society for years to come. Well joining me now from his official country residence in Chevening is the Foreign Secretary William Hague. Thank you for being with us Mr Hague.

William Hague (Foreign Secretary): Good morning.

AB: The first aspect of this we’re going to get is this National Security Strategy but isn’t the reality that the National Security Strategy is a case of cutting our cloth according to having frankly less cloth to go round so, inevitably, what ever you conclude Britain will be less well defended at the end of it?

WH: No, of course it has to fit in to the financial situation, we have to find savings in the defence budget like most other budgets but the biggest problem we’ve had actually is not finding some savings it is dealing with the terrible legacy that we inherited of a defence budget that is thirty eight billion pounds over committed. The last Government entered in to commitments for which they didn’t have the money to the extent of ten million pounds for every day for the next ten years.

And so sorting that has been very difficult, there is no doubt about that, that has been a very difficult process. But at the end of it we will make sure this country is properly defended, that we continue to have an independent nuclear deterrent, formidable intelligence agencies, highly deployable armed forces so we will remain a global player, we will remain a serious military power in NATO and in the world.  But has it been a difficult process?  Yes it has.

And we’ll do more than that which is to make sure this country is properly equipped with twenty first century difficulties and that means we’ll invest more in some areas such as cyber security; cyber attacks are becoming an increasing threat not only to Governments but to national infrastructure, to businesses, for people’s own personal financial security. So we will have to put more in to some areas like that.

AB: But it does follow doesn’t it that if you’re spending less, you say we can’t afford it or it was unfunded, your capability will diminish and, and for example something like the Falklands conflict which Britain waged back in the 1980s, I mean, it simply wouldn’t be possible to do that again would it with a navy of twenty ships?

WH: Well the Falklands is now protected in a different way from 1982, there is a permanent garrison there. We have fighter aircraft there all the time, we have proper radar defences of the Falklands and this, this country will continue to have some of the most formidably well equipped warships and some of the deadliest hunter killer submarines, that is the Astute class of submarines that are being built now …

AB: Yes but I …

WH: … of any country in the world.

AB: … (indistinct) what I’m talking about is that sort of projection around the world of, of military force for a specific reason, we wouldn’t be able to do that under the new plan.

WH: Well again, well no I don’t really agree with that because look there we are in Afghanistan, we have a huge deployment in Afghanistan as, as everybody knows our troops are working so hard and so valiantly in Afghanistan and one of our priorities in this review has been to make sure that what is needed on the frontline in Afghanistan will be there. We’ve, in fact we’ve doubled the operational allowance for our forces in Afghanistan and that, that will be there over the coming years.
So we will continue to be able to deploy forces in very serious numbers elsewhere in the world, of course not, we’re not a military power of the same nature as the United States but in, when you compare us to other European countries we will still have the ability to do that and be in the first rank of the countries that can do that.

AB: But we will be dropping behind. We’ve had Robert Gates, the American Defence Secretary, talking about European capability being hollowed out, we’ve had Hillary Clinton expressing concern as well. You know if the first duty of any Government is the defence of the realm you are, surely, through your cuts slipping in that?

WH: Well we have to do our best to adapt to new threats as I say like cyber attacks and to make sure that we can afford what is actually being committed to. We don’t do ourselves any favours as a country by starting on military projects that we don’t have the money for and that was the behaviour of the previous Government. The, the management of the aircraft carrier project by the previous Government is staggering in its incompetence; embarking on building them without knowing where the money would come, then delaying them as a result with the, with the consequence that the costs went up enormously further. I mean we, we are not going to behave in that way …

AB: I mean has, has …

WH: … but we will make sure …

AB: … Hillary Clinton directly …

WH: … at the end of the …

AB: … expressed to you her concerns about Britain’s plans?

WH: We, Hillary Clinton and I discussed on Thursday in Brussels at the NATO meeting British defence spending and European defence spending.  She did, indeed, express her concerns about Europe in general and NATO in general not specifically about Britain …

AB: But including Britain.

WH: … and so I’ve, I’ve, well not specifically about Britain and I, I’ve described to her the nature of what we’re doing just in, as I’m describing it to you, and I think the United States is reassured by that, that we will retain a wide spectrum of military capabilities. Anyone in office in the United States appreciates just how much Britain does in the world and we will be continuing to be a big contributor to NATO and to the collective defence of all NATO nations.

AB: You say, for example, that the previous Government mismanaged the aircraft carrier project but to most people it will seem a bit odd to carry on building aircraft carriers and not to have fighter aircraft on them.

WH: Well await the announcements is all I can say about that, the Prime Minister will set this out in detail later on this week how we’re going to approach this. It has, as I say, been a terrible problem to untangle because not only did they do all those things with the aircraft carrier but it, they then left us without, with building aircraft carriers that are not interoperable with our allies, that can’t be used for United States or French planes to land on them. So we have had to do a lot of work sorting that out and the, the result of that will, of course, be presented later this week.

AB: But isn’t the real truth when you look at the defence budget what’s going to remain of it the Government’s priorities are going to be prestige projects of questionable value such as the aircraft carriers, such as Trident as envisaged while our actual basic strategic capabilities are going to diminish?

WH: Again I would await the announcements if I were you about that. No we will continue to have a wide range of strategic capabilities and be adapting to the threats of the future, I really do want to stress this, this is central to our national security strategy to having a holistic national security approach. We have to think about the dangers of terrorism, we have to think about the dangers of cyber attack as well as the traditional thinking about conflict between states and whether Britain and our allies could be drawn in to such conflicts.

So that requires in many ways more flexible armed forces, it requires us to really make sure we’re there in the information age not just in the sense of large, as you say, prestige projects. So we have been tackling all of that and that will be reflected in the National Security Strategy and the Strategic Defence and Security Review which will be announced over the next couple of days.

AB: Well let’s just take one threat, for example Iran. We know that President Ahmadinejad has been in Lebanon this week and yet it appears that Europe’s response to that is to hold out some kind of hand of friendship.

WH: We’re holding out the prospect of negotiations, not just Europe but, but the United States and Russia and China. We met, the, the six Foreign Ministers, the so called E3 plus 3, we met in New York a few weeks ago and we’re absolutely agreed that we want to, that we offer Iran negotiations but at the same time as sanctions, at the same time as tough sanctions which I believe Iran is now considerably worried about.
Now Iran has said that they will enter, the Iranians have said they will enter negotiations and we now want the dates for those negotiations and we want them to be about the whole nuclear programme. But while those negotiations are awaited and, indeed, while they go on the sanctions on Iran will be tightening. So this is in no way a softening or loosening of policy, it’s a twin track approach of saying to Iran there are, there are more sanctions coming down the track which effect your nuclear programme and may effect your wider economy in some ways but there’s also the offer of negotiations.


And I think that is the right way to try to find a peaceful solution to Iran’s development of its, of a nuclear weapons programme.

AB: But a peaceful solution’s really the only possibility isn’t it because military intervention seems to be unthinkable particularly with a diminished force?

WH: I’m certainly not calling for a military intervention but none of us in, among the NATO countries have ever taken off the table the prospect of a possibility of military action, it would be wrong to do that because that would relieve pressure on the Iranian leadership but yes we want a peaceful and diplomatic solution to this. It was one of the reasons we want to find that diplomatic solution is that so that other nations don’t take it upon themselves to launch a military attack which would have wider consequences for the peace of the world.

AB: I want to ask you about soft power; your Government has put itself very strongly behind the bid for the World Cup in 2018, do you think that, that Britain’s chances of getting that are diminished by our refusal to pay bribes?

WH: Well one would hope not. Certainly we’re putting a lot of energy in to this World Cup bid, the Prime Minister and I and the Sports Minister and others across Government have been lobbying for this bid. We will, of course, only do so in an absolutely correct way so you’re quite right to say in your question we will not be paying any bribes.

It’s disturbing to read what we read in today’s newspapers, I don’t know the truth of that but these are serious allegations and, of course, we want all the, all the proceedings of the World Cup bid to be carried out in a way that is ethically correct and that therefore means everybody can respect the process and respect the result. And I would call on all nations involved to carry out these proceedings in that way.

AB: But know, knowing what we know about FIFA do you think that the President of FIFA really is a, a fit person to be feted in Number 10 Downing Street by the Prime Minister?

WH: Well look we, we are, we want to win the World Cup bid, we want to bring the World Cup to Britain so, of course, we have to deal with the people leading FIFA but as to all the allegations that are made today I don’t think you can expect me to give a instant judgement on them all but I would just say we’re very disturbed by those allegations.

Britain, whatever happens and whatever other countries do, we’ll deal with this in a correct way doing absolutely nothing corrupt, paying no bribes and not corrupting this system in any way.

AB: William Hague thank you very much indeed for joining us from Chevening.

WH: Thank you.

N. Korea’s nuclear program ‘biggest threat’ to region: South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff

FILE : General Han Min-koo (R), new chairman of South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, inspects an honour guard during a welcoming ceremony for General Han at a U.S. military base in Seoul July 8, 2010. (Getty / REUTERS/Jo Yong-Hak )

SEOUL, Oct. 18 (KATAKAMI / Yonhap) -- North Korea's nuclear weapons program poses the most serious threat to the security of the Asia-Pacific region, South Korea's top military officer said Monday.

"North Korea's nuclear program, as well as its weapons of mass destruction, is the biggest threat" to regional stability, Gen. Han Min-koo, chairman of the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), told reporters at an annual conference of military leaders in Seoul.

It was not clear whether Han's remarks were based on the recent reports of fresh activities close to the North's main nuclear complex Yongbyon.

Officials at the JCS declined to elaborate on the comments by Han, who also cited territorial disputes and pirates in Southeast Asia as security threats to the region.

Recent satellite images by the U.S.-based Institute for Science and International Security showed construction activity near a cooling tower at Yongbyon, which the North blew up in 2008 as a show of its commitment to denuclearization.

North Korea has signaled that it was ready to rejoin the long-suspended six-party talks on its denuclearization, but its motive remains unclear with images suggesting it might be preparing to restore the plutonium-producing facility.

During the conference, Han said South Korea's military would forge closer cooperation with its U.S. and Japanese counterparts to share intelligence on the North's nuclear program.

North Korea, believed to have enough weaponized plutonium for at least a half dozen bombs, declared it was quitting the six-party talks in April last year and conducted its second nuclear test a month later.

South Korea is hosting the five-day Chiefs of Defense conference this week, with participants including U.S. Pacific Command Commander Robert Willard and Gen. Ryoichi Oriki, Japan's chief of joint self-defense forces.

The conference drew dozens of senior defense officials from 27 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Coordinating ways to improve civilian-military cooperation at international peacekeeping missions and global collaboration on maritime security are among the topics on the agenda for the meeting that ends Friday, Seoul's military officials said.

NATO official: Bin Laden, deputy hiding in northwest Pakistan

October 18, 2010/ Kabul, Afghanistan (KATAKAMI / CNN) -- Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri are believed to be hiding close to each other in houses in northwest Pakistan, but are not together, a senior NATO official said.

"Nobody in al Qaeda is living in a cave," said the official, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the intelligence matters involved.

Rather, al Qaeda's top leadership is believed to be living in relative comfort, protected by locals and some members of the Pakistani intelligence services, the official said.

Pakistan has repeatedly denied protecting members of the al Qaeda leadership.

The official said the general region where bin Laden is likely to have moved around in recent years ranges from the mountainous Chitral area in the far northwest near the Chinese border, to the Kurram Valley which neighbors Afghanistan's Tora Bora, one of the Taliban strongholds during the U.S. invasion in 2001.

Tora Bora is also the region from which bin Laden is believed to have escaped during a U.S. bombing raid in late 2001. U.S. officials have long said there have been no confirmed sightings of bin Laden or Zawahiri for several years.

The area that the official described covers hundreds of square miles of some of the most rugged terrain in Pakistan inhabited by fiercely independent tribes.

The official also confirmed the U.S. assessment that Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban, has moved between the cities of Quetta and Karachi in Pakistan over the last several months.

The official would not discuss how the coalition has come to know any of this information, but he has access to some of the most sensitive information in the NATO alliance.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Monday that similar reports of bin Laden and Mullah Omar's whereabouts have proven false in the past.

Malik denied the two men are on Pakistani soil, but said that any information to the contrary should be shared with Pakistani officials so that they can take "immediate action" to arrest the pair.
The NATO official, who has day-to-day senior responsibilities for the war, offered a potentially grimmer view than what has been publicly offered by others.

"Every year the insurgency can generate more and more manpower," despite military attacks, he said.
Although there has been security progress, he pointed to an internal assessment that there are 500,000 to 1 million "disaffected" men between the ages of 15 and 25 along the Afghan-Pakistan border region, he said.

Most are Afghan Pashtuns and make up some of the 95 percent of the insurgency who carry out attacks just to earn money, rather than fight for a hard-core Taliban ideology.

The official said it is now absolutely vital for the Afghan government to address the needs of this group with security, economic development and jobs in order for the war to end, and for Afghanistan to succeed.
"We are running out of time," he said.

The entire scenario is made more complex by the fact that "there is a huge criminal enterprise in this country," dealing in human, drug and mineral trafficking, he said. Those crimes are also tied into the insurgency.

He acknowledged the overall strategy now is to increase offensive airstrikes and ground attacks in order to increase the pressure on the Taliban and insurgents groups to come to the negotiating table with the current Afghan government.

There is a growing sense that many insurgent leaders may be willing to accept conditions such as renouncing al Qaeda because they want to come back to Afghanistan.

But, the official cautioned, hard core Taliban groups such as the Quetta Shura run by Mullah Omar, the Haqqanis, the HiG (Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin) and the Pakistani Taliban still could potentially muster as many as 30,000 fighters.

The U.S. continues to face a more localized insurgency in the south. In places like Marja and the Helmand River Valley, the majority of the fighters are captured within a few miles of their homes.
The insurgent leader Mullah Abdullah Zakir has increased his strength in the south, the official said. He essentially exerts some levels of control and influence both in the greater Kandahar region and across the south from Zabul to Farah province.

The official continued to stress the urgency of getting the Afghan government to deal with the multitude of problems it faces.

Right now, the U.S. war plan approved by President Barack Obama extends through 2014, the official said. That is the official document that spells out matters such as troop rotation schedules.
The U.S. military could sustain a war "'indefinitely," the official said. But the goal is to achieve reconciliation and allow the Afghan government to function and provide security and services to the people.

Without that, he said, "we will be fighting here forever."

Stanley Ann Dunham Obama Raih Penghargaan Bidang Ekonomi Kerakyatan dari UGM

Stanley Ann Dunham

KENANGLAH STANLEY ANN DUNHAM OBAMA, PAHLAWAN TANPA TANDA JASA

FILM OBAMA ANAK MENTENG, KADO BURUK UNTUK OBAMA DI HARI KEMERDEKAAN AMERIKA

Obama Elegan Wujudkan Impian Ras Hitam Terbelakang


Oktober 18,2010. Jakarta (KATAKAMI) - Ibunda presiden Amerika Serikat Barack Obama, Dr Ann Dunham Soetoro akan mendapatkan penghargaan dari Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM). Ibu Obama dinilai telah berjasa dalam mengembangkan ekonomi kerakyatan, khususnya bagi masyakarat Bantul dan Gunung Kidul, Yogyakarta.

"Kita memberikan penghargaan pada orang-orang yang peduli pada ekonomi kerakyatan," ujar Rektor Universitas Gadjah Mada, Sudjarwadi.

Menurut Sudjarwadi, dari berbagai literatur yang telah ditelusuri, Ann Dunham mengerjakan disertasinya tentang ekonomi kerakyatan khususnya pada masyakarat pandai besi dan kerajinan tangan.

"Kita menemukan Ann Dunham Soetoro bekerja dan memberikan cintanya untuk masyarakat," kata Sudjarwadi.

Stanley Ann Dunham (semasa hidupnya) saat berkunjung ke Lombok, NTB - Indonesia

Dari kacamata akademik, Ann Dunham seorang antropologis ekonomi dan fokus penelitiannya adalah masyarakat ekonomi yang terpinggirkan seperti para pandai besi dan peran wanita di pedesaan.

"Kita gabungkan dengan metode Pak Mubiyarto yang membawanya ke dalam level teoritis," terangnya.
Sudjarwadi juga membantah pemberian penghargaan kepada ibunda Obama dikarenakan Obama akan mengunjungi Indonesia pada bulan November mendatang.

"Kita melihat dari sisi akademis dan apa yang dilakukan Ann dulu saat melakukan penelitian, tidak berhubungan di masa sekarang saat anaknya menjadi presiden," tuturnya.

Sudjarwadi menambahkan, pihaknya telah melakukan korespondensi dengan Maya Soetoro, adik dari Barrack Obama untuk bisa hadir menerima gelar tersebut mewakili ibunya.

"Kita juga menggunakan jalur Kedutaan Amerika. Kita lihat saja nanti perkembangannya," kata Sujdarwadi.

Ann menerima penghargaan bersama dengan Prof Dr Mubyarto, yang selama ini dikenal sebagai pejuang ekonomi berbasis kerakyatan dan memiliki hubungan erat dengan UGM.

DETIK

Italian defense minister meets U.S. Army Gen. Petraeus in Milan

Italian Minister of Defense Ignazio La Russa (R) and the current commander of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, US General David Petraeus give a joint press conference following their meeting on October 16, 2010 in Milan. Petraeus will take part in Rome on October 18 in a meeting of the International Contact Group that will bring together top diplomats to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, including 10 representatives of Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) member states. (Photo : OLIVIER MORIN/AFP/Getty Images)

October 18, 2010 (KATAKAMI / PEOPLE'S DAILY ONLINE) --- Italian Minister of Defense Ignazio La Russa met Commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, U.S. General David H. Petraeus, in Milan on Saturday, local media reported on Sunday.

During the meeting held in the command of the First Air Region, La Russa confirmed the Italian government's commitment to follow up ISAF's strategy.

Speaking at a press conference at the end of the meeting, La Russa said that he didn't talk with Petraeus about exit strategies or dates, as thinking of an exit strategy "means to advantage terrorists."

"I prefer to talk about goals instead," he said, adding that Italy's goal is to return the Afghan territory to local government and army, so that they themselves can continue in counter-terrorist action and start a phase of normalization.

Top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, smiles upon his arrival to attend a meeting with Italian Defense Minister Igniazio La Russa in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2010. (Getty Images /AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

In La Russa's view, 2011 may be a decisive year, because the reconstruction plan in the west part of Afghanistan is continuing.

"I think that before the end of 2011 several districts of the West will be delivered. Herat, for example, is already an area that could be ready," he said.

The number of Italian soldiers, he added, is to rise to 4,000 by the end of 2010, and there is the possibility for an additional increase of trainers in the first months of 2011.

La Russa said that he hasn't discuss with the ISAF commander about weaponry of Italian airplanes, an issue that the Italian minister has raised in the past days after the killing of four Italian soldiers in Afghanistan.

"We both know the situation. NATO and ISAF expect, hope indeed, all crafts to have a complete armament, and this issue will be handled in Lisbon," he pointed out.

During their meeting, La Russia and Petraeus also talked about the NATO-supported negotiations between the Karzai government and the Taliban.

"We support this initiative because we know that the reconciliation is fundamental, but Taliban must meet the conditions that Karzai has put clearly: lay down arms, stop the violence, cut ties with al-Qaeda, walk away from international terrorism and accept the Afghan constitution," he said.

On Monday, Petraeus will be in Rome for a meeting with Italy's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Source: Xinhua

France receives terrorist attack warning

October 18, 2010 (KATAKAMI / RIA NOVOSTI) --- Saudi Arabia special services warned Paris that Al-Qaeda may be plotting a terrorist attack in France, the BBC said on Monday citing French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux.

The minister said in a joint radio and TV interview that Saudi intelligence agencies warned French authorities of a terrorist threat to Europe, and "France in particular."

"I can tell you - and it's not information that's been made public yet - that even a few hours, a few days ago, [we received] a new message, from the Saudi [intelligence] services, indicating to us that Al-Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula was certainly active, or expecting to be active," the minister said.

Sky News reported in late September, citing intelligence sources, that Al Qaeda was plotting simultaneous attacks on London and large cities in France and Germany, similar to the 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai, which left 166 people dead.

In early October the U.S. Department of State warned its citizens of potential terrorist attacks in Western Europe.

MOSCOW, October 18 (RIA Novosti)

Medvedev to discuss security, visas with leaders of France, Germany

FILE : French President Nicolas Sarkozy , Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and German Chancellor Angela Merkel attend a trilateral meeting during the first G-20 at the Convention Center on June 27, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario Canada. (Pictured: Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel , Dmitry Medvedev ) Photo by Olivier Douliery /ABACAUSA.COM

October 18, 2010 (KATAKAMI / RIA NOVOSTI) --- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will meet with French and German leaders on Monday to discuss, among other things, European security and the Russia-EU visa regime.

The talks between Medvedev, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Deauville, northern France, would resume after the five-year break with a working dinner on Monday. Three-party consultations are scheduled for Tuesday morning, followed by a joint news conference.
"A three-sided meeting is not an exclusive club to work out decisions separately from other states, but rather a convenient format for discussing our common vision in a trustful, frank atmosphere with our closest partners in Europe," Prikhodko said.

Regarding European security, Prikhodko said Russia wants to promote Medvedev's European security treaty initiative.

Medvedev proposed drawing up a new European security pact in June 2008, and Russia published a draft of the treaty in December 2009, sending copies to heads of state and international organizations, including NATO. However, the proposal has been met coolly by Western powers.

Prikhodko also said that soonest introduction eased visa regime between Russia and the European Union will be among the key issues on the agenda.

"The first issue that we would put forward will be the eased procedure of visa issuance and introduction of advanced methods in data processing," the Kremlin official said.

He did not rule out that Russia may raise the question of scrapping visa regime with the EU, which has become a major foreign policy goal in Moscow's relations with Brussels.

Russia submitted a draft agreement on scrapping visa requirements to the European Union at the Russia-EU summit in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don on May 31. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on the same day that "the majority of our partners in Europe support this idea," but several EU states reject it, mainly for political reasons.

Prikhodko said that energy issues, Iran's controversial nuclear program, as well as Russia-NATO and Russia-EU cooperation would also be discussed at the meeting.

MOSCOW, October 18 (RIA Novosti)

Myanmar’s Suu Kyi wants to ‘tweet’

Aung San Suu Kyi

October 18, 2010 (KATAKAMI / THE JAKARTA POST / AP ) --- Myanmar's detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi wants to sign up for a Twitter account once she is released so that she can "tweet" and keep in touch with the younger generation, her lawyer said Monday.

The 65-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner, who has been detained for 15 of the past 21 years, entered her latest period of detention in May 2003 before the Twitter era started.

Her detention expires on Nov. 13, prompting speculation she will be freed though there has been no such official announcement from the ruling military junta. The country's first election in 20 years will take place days earlier on Nov. 7, timing that analysts say was designed to keep the opposition leader locked away for the polls.

"Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's current wish is to sign up on Twitter when she is released," said her lawyer Nyan Win, who has visited her twice in the past week. "She told me she wants to use Twitter to get in touch with the younger generation inside and outside the country."

"She wishes to be able to tweet every day and keep in touch," he said.

Suu Kyi has no phone line or any access to the Internet, though she has a laptop, Nyan Win said. He described her as computer- and tech-savvy and adept with electronic gadgets.

Under the rules of her detention, Suu Kyi is allowed to read state-controlled newspapers and private local news journals and magazines, to listen to the radio and to watch state-run television but she has no satellite dish to receive foreign broadcasts.

Her lawyers are among the few people allowed to see Suu Kyi, aside from her doctors and occasional visits with U.N. and foreign dignitaries.

According to July statistics from the state-run Post and Telecommunication Ministry, there are 400,000 internet users in Myanmar, with the vast majority in the former capital Yangon and the second-largest city of Mandalay.

Photos : Russian PM Vladimir Putin And his wife Lyudmila Putina takes part in all-Russia population census

Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (R) and his wife Lyudmila (C) talk to a census-taker as they participate in a nationwide population count at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow October 16, 2010. Putin and his wife Lyudmila made a rare joint public appearance over the weekend seeking to reaffirm their marriage amid persistent divorce rumours. Picture taken October 16, 2010. (Getty Images / REUTERS/RIA Novosti/Alexei Druzhinin/Pool )

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, right, and his wife Lyudmila Putina, second right, participate in the All-Russian population census at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2010. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila invited a census taker to their suburban residence to fill in the census questionnaire. Russia on Thursday launched a two-week population census, its first since 2002 and second in its post-Soviet history. (Getty Images /AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Alexey Druzhinin, pool)

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, right, and his wife Lyudmila Putina, second right, participate in the All-Russian population census at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2010. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his wife Lyudmila invited a census taker to their suburban residence to fill in the census questionnaire. Russia on Thursday launched a two-week population census, its first since 2002 and second in its post-Soviet history. (Getty Images / AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Alexey Druzhinin, pool)

Indonesian President says political differences must not sacrifice national unity

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (R) and First Lady Ani Yudhoyono watch the celebrations of the country's 65th Independence Day at the presidential palace in Jakarta on August 17, 2010. (Photo : ROMEO GACAD/AFP/Getty Images)

October 17, 2010 (KATAKAMI/ THE JAKARTA POST) — President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Sunday that any differences among political parties must not sacrifice national unity.

“Each of us can have a different political stance, but for the people, we must live in unity,” he said during the celebration of the ninth anniversary of Democratic Party.

Yudhoyono called on his party members to work hard for the next three years.

“I ask you to always work and not to blame one another,” he said as quoted by tempointeraktif.com
Political party chairmen and leaders such as Aburizal Bakrie, Hatta Rajasa, Suryadharma Ali, Muhaimin Iskandar, Tifatul Sembiring, Suhardi, and Sutiyoso attended the Democratic Party anniversary celebration.