Jakarta - The essential qualifications to be Indonesia's vice-president are a low profile and a good supply of jokes to entertain President Suharto, outgoing Vice-President Try Sutrisno has said.

Try, who is retiring at the end of a five-year term in March, was quoted by the Jakarta Post on Saturday as telling local reporters that Suharto was like a "ship's captain."

"There is only one sun for the whole earth," he said when asked how he had handled his relationship with the autocratic Suharto, 76, a former army general who has ruled Indonesia since the mid- 1960s.

"Suharto loves jokes," Try, 62, added. "I told him jokes, especially during his spare time. But of course not dirty jokes."

None of Suharto's vice-presidents has lasted more than one term and Try said he wanted to continue that tradition.

Try, who was head of the armed forces before becoming vice-president, said when he retires, "I will work as a security guard for my wife, who manages a social foundation and a school."