HIS appearance is modest: lightblue, long-sleeved shirt, no tie, no coat. Yet the man born in Watampone, South Sulawesi exudes a commanding presence and authority.

He is Muhammad Jusuf Kalla, 62, Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia for the 2004-2009 period, and he projects the image of a deputy head of State totally disassociated from the traditions of the New Order. Kalla is not a vice president who will stand in the shadows of and