"Egypt needs to learn from other countries in this case, the government should leave the problem to the people," Habibie said during a visit to Taman Pintar, Yogyakarta, Sunday.
According to him, Egypt had a similar problem faced by Indonesia thirteen years ago when the people lost confidence in the government.
Soeharto, the then president, decided to resign and was succeeded by vice president BJ Habibie.
"At that time, the people felt relieved and continued with their normal daily activities," he said.
In Egypt, he added, President Hosni Mubarak had a vice president, but his duty should maintain president`s power.
"The duty of a VP is to solve problems, that`s the most important thing. But the time for solving the crisis should neither be too long nor too short, one year is enough. Not too short because it is impossible to handle the emergency," he said.
One of the VP`s duties was to hold an honest and fair general election, so the result could be satisfactory to all the people.
"It is for the security and safety of Egypt`s democracy," Habibie said.
Earlier, a humanist Syafii Maarif said that the conflict in Egypt had spread to neighboring Yemen and Jordan.
Syafii said the demonstration of the Egyptian people who demanded President Hosni Mubarak step down was part of resurrection for freedom.
He hoped the Egyptian people could solve the problem on their own.(*)
Editor: Ruslan Burhani
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
