Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri yesterday celebrated her 55th birthday with hundreds of orphans and homeless children in a modest gathering at her party headquarters in an apparent bid to offset criticism over her husband's lavish birthday bash in the resort island of Bali recently.

She showed up at the party held at the backyard of the Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P) headquarters in Central Jakarta yesterday afternoon after chairing a Cabinet meeting.

She was greeted by about 300 children from the nearby slum areas who sang birthday songs. A group of young street singers, who earn money at traffic lights, performed at the party.

The children urged her to be committed to wiping out corruption, collusion and nepotism, the Antara news agency reported. The function was attended by party leaders and some prominent figures, though her husband Taufik Kiemas was not present.

Ms Megawati's party was a sharp contrast to her husband's 59th birthday at a lavish party held at the summer palace in Tampaksiring, Bali. Detikcom online news service reported earlier this month that the President's 44-member entourage flew to Bali aboard a presidential plane, a move which drew criticism as only a few days earlier she had appealed to people to lead a modest lifestyle.

Ms Megawati, who took over from ousted president Abdurrahman Wahid last July, has been under fire for poor performance in lifting the country out of the multiple crises. Many regret her recent decision to raise fuel prices that caused prices of basic goods to soar. The government is also planning to raise power and telephone rates.

Critics slam her government's plans to ease the repayment terms of debts owed by ex-bankers to the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (Ibra) as it favours tycoons who had misused the state money. Under the plan, bank owners can extend the repayment period of their debts to 10 years from four years.

Furthermore, the President has also been criticised for the little progress made by her government in fighting graft. Since she came to power, no graft case prosecuted by her government has been brought to court.

Her party's indecisive stance on a financial scandal allegedly involving Parliament Speaker Akbar Tandjung raised suspicions that she was compromising for the sake of her political survival.

Ms Megawati's rise to power in the late 1990s was due to the strong grassroots support she had received in the final years of president Suharto's authoritarian regime. Now, analysts are concerned that her government is not doing enough to help the poor who had expected her to bring changes to the country.

The Suara Pembaruan Daily said yesterday: "Many people want Megawati to be closer to them, they want her to talk more to them to express what they really want and to hear what she really has to say to them."