President To Accept Doctorates
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday May 1, 2000
Two Australian universities will award honorary doctorates to Indonesia's President Abdurrahman Wahid when he next visits, in recognition of his academic and political achievements.
Mr Wahid said last week that he had decided to accept the doctorates, from Deakin University and the Australian National University.
The Vice-Chancellor of Deakin, Professor Geoff Wilson, said the doctorate reflected Mr Wahid's ``considerable academic distinction [and] his liaison with the university going back a few years".
The university felt that as President he had shown ``very strong humanitarian qualities, in respect of some of the conflicts in Indonesia and in particularly strong action with the military".
The honorary degree was offered late last year and accepted in February.
A spokesman for the ANU said Mr Wahid would be awarded a doctorate in laws ``in recognition of his outstanding creative contributions in the service of society".
Professor Merle Ricklefs, head of the Melbourne Institute of Asian Languages and Societies, said Mr Wahid was ``a very distinguished figure in Indonesia, and in the Soeharto years he stood up for liberal democratic values and moral imperatives".
© 2000 Sydney Morning Herald