Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Deputy Chairman AM Fatwa said the United states President George W Bush's planned visit to Indonesia was causing the country to suffer great loss and degradation.

The question was that to ensure the visit's security, Indonesia had to spend billions of rupiahs from its state budget, he said on Saturday in Makassar, capital of South Sulawesi province.

"Yet the national economy is still in a state of crisis while many Indonesian people are still living below the poverty line. Let it not happen that just because of politics, we make huge expenditures to secure Bush's visit and thereby prolong our crisis, " Antara news agency on Sunday quoted Fatwa as saying.

To prove that Indonesia was a sovereign country with its own dignity, Fatwa expressed hope that the government would resolutely reject the US president's visit.

Meanwhile, Aksa Ahmad, another MPR deputy chairman, said Bush's forthcoming visit was a normal thing but the preparations to welcome him were extravagant, and this was to be deplored.

"Indonesia and the U.S. are friends but it does not mean that preparations to welcome Bush must be extraordinary," Aksa said.

Earlier, Prof Muin Salim, a political observer at the East Indonesia University (UIT), said Bush's planned visit was of no benefit to Indonesia.

Instead, the visit would only be of benefit to the superpower itself because the U.S. had so far been applying double standards in the matters of human rights and terrorism.

Bush is expected to visit Indonesia on November 20 after attending the APEC meeting in Vietnam.

However, Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirajuda called on the Indonesian people to respect Bush as a state guest because the latter's forthcoming visit to Jakarta is to reciprocate the one made by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in May last year.

"Do not look at Bush's planned visit emotionally but view it in a wider context because the U.S. president will come to Indonesia as a state guest who should be respected," Wirajuda said on Saturday.

The minister said Bush's visit would have a positive meaning for Indonesia because the agenda of his talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono implied U.S. assistance for Indonesia's basic and higher education, various immunization programs, bird flu and natural disaster mitigation efforts, tsunami early warning systems, biodiesel development and information technology.

"Pay close attention to the agenda of the visit because it will not only improve bilateral relations between Indonesia and the United States but also have direct implications for the government 's efforts to serve the people's interests," Wirajuda said.

He said Indonesia was cooperating with the U.S., Germany, Japan, South Korea and China to develop tsunami early warning system networks along coasts across the country.

"The Indonesian people will gain many positive and beneficial things from the Bush-Yudhoyono meeting ," the minister said.

Source: Xinhua