Stars in our eyes

Some leaders have it, some leaders don't - it's that elusive thing called star quality. By Warren Gamble

Bill Clinton, President of the United States, needs no introduction. He will be the biggest show in town, even if he has left his home porch without Hillary. Besides the biggest motorcade, the most secret agents, and the largest press corps, he has also had the most words written about his private life (limited space precludes us going into that here).

As a Rhodes scholar at Oxford University, Mr Clinton only inhaled deeply when playing rugby.

Star Rating: ********** (whether or not he kicks about with the All blacks)

Honest John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia, has suffered shaky form at home - rolling mauls over his tax reforms, flare-ups over his refusal to apologise for colonisation of Aboriginal land, and a ruckus over his idea of having the word "mateship" in the proposed new republican constitution.

He might be glad of the break in Auckland, and his relationship with home team leader Jenny Shipley is good.

It's not all cream and pavlova though - both leaders claim their country invented the dessert.

Star Rating ****** (+* if he has pavlova with kiwifruit at the leaders' banquet).

The man with the priciest clothes, flashest cars and fanciest shoes will be Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, known to you and me as the Sultan of Brunei.

Formerly the world's richest man, though Sultan-watchers are divided on how much of the $US75 billion he started out with has survived the retail therapyorgies of the Sultan and his younger brother Jefri.

For the 1995 Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Auckland the Sultan's agents spent $24 million buying and upgrading the luxury Herne Bay home Waimanu - and then he stayed in a city hotel.

Star Rating: ******* (+** if he lets journalists stay at Waimanu).

Trombone-playing Jean Chretien, Prime Minister of Canada, hosted his very own Apec summit in 1997 and is probably still regretting it.

An embarrassing inquiry is still looking at why the Mounties pepper-sprayed student demonstrators, and went to great lengths to spare Indonesia's former President Suharto from protests.

Mr Chretien's attempt at humour - likening pepper spray to pepper on his steak - fell dreadfully flat.

Star Rating: ***** (+*** if he plays a duo with President Clinton on sax).

With his slicked-back black-dyed hair and trademark horn-rimmed glasses, Jiang Zemin, president of China, may not win the Mr Charisma prize but being the head of the world's most populous country does impart a certain status.

Two ground-breaking summits with President Clinton in 1997 and last year boosted his international profile, and their meeting in New Zealand, at Government House in Epsom this Saturday, will be a big drawcard.

The multi-lingual Jiang is likely to bring a good book or two. He is a fan of Mark Twain and can recite chunks of Hamlet - to be free or not to be free is the question for trade talks.

Star Rating: ******** (+* if he quotes from Huckleberry Finn).

Best left-footed attacking player in the leaders' squad is likely to be Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle, President of Chile, who played at left wing in his soccer-playing youth.

The son of Chile's last democratically elected leader before the bloody dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, the hawklike but reputedly shy president took office in 1990.

General Pinochet's arrest in Britain last year propelled Frei onto the world stage, saying the general's immunity should be respected.

Star Rating: ***** (More if the leaders have a kick-about during their retreat in the Domain).

Possibly making one of his last official outings is Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie, President of Indonesia, who faces a presidential run-off with opposition figurehead Megawati Sukarnoputri in November.

The friend of former President Suharto took over the presidency last year when the strongman resigned amid economic crisis and civil unrest.

Trained as an aeronautical engineer, Mr Habibie worked for German aircraft maker Messerschmitt before entering politics.

The troubled East Timor autonomy vote could put Habibie at the centre of one of the summit's hottest non-Apec issues.

Star Rating: ****** (more if East Timor flares up).

The man they call "bonjin" (ordinary man) is Keizo Obuchi, Prime Minister of Japan, who has the far from ordinary job of turning around Japan's recession-hit economy.

Despite signs of improvement, the outlook is still sluggish.

At university he contemplated becoming a Shakespeare scholar, but the death of his politician father changed his mind.

Obuchi prepared for his new career by joining a debating society, learning the martial art of aikido, and taking up bodybuilding.

Star Rating: ****** (+** if he tries a few holds on President Clinton).

The man with the spiky haircut is Tung Chee Hwa, Chief Executive of Hong Kong. The former shipping magnate got his present job in 1997 after Britain handed its former colony back to China.

A fan of British soccer, and US basketball and football, Mr Tung is also a keen hiker and practices t'ai chi.

Star Rating: ***** (+*** if he convinces other leaders to adopt his hairstyle).

The ultimate survivor's prize goes to Kim Dae Jung, President of Korea, a veteran dissident who has survived being kidnapped and sentenced to death - as well as a crippling economic recession.

And he can still turn on the charm. He told Jenny Shipley during her recent visit to Korea that she was looking more youthful than at their previous meeting.

Star Rating: ****** (less if he gets carried away with the flattery).

Sometimes, the best way to make an impact at the party is to stay home. Maybe that's why Malaysian PM Mahathir bin Mohamad is sitting this one out.

Or maybe he's just getting back at Bill Clinton for snubbing Malaysia's Apec bash last year.

Whatever the reason, journalists will be crying into their beer at the thought of missing the always quotable Mahathir, never one to let protocol stop him making pronouncements such as calling Apec "a toothless talk shop."

In his place he'll be sending deputy PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, a long-time MP who will no doubt be on his best behaviour given the fate of his predecessor, now languishing in a jail cell.

Star Rating: **** (but more if Mahathir supplies him with a few quotes).

If any of the leaders get into a boasting match about their election-winning abilities, the winner should be Ernesto Zedillo, President of Mexico - his party has been running the country for 65 years.

Not everything is rosy though for the Yale-educated economist; since he was elected in 1994 the country has faced economic crisis and rebellions.

A Government biography describes him as having an austere character, and firm principles. "Settling has been a constant feature in his personal style," it says.

Star Rating: ***** (more if he can settle any Apec disputes).

And now, facing her first big international role, it's the only woman in the Apec club of 21, our very own Jenny Shipley. Although Apec is supposed to be apolitical, she has had her finger in most pies to ensure everything is just so - and to maximise the election-boosting photo opportunities.

Her main worry is that the sluggish Apec trade agenda or some damaging political issue from out of left field could overshadow her big days out.

Star Rating: ******* (more if the traditional leaders' shirts turn out to be silk chemises that make all the blokes look like girls' blouses).

If terrorists strike, the man to call will be Alberto Fujimori, President of Peru. The son of Japanese immigrants is probably best known for his triumphant, bullet-proof vest wearing appearance after the 1997 siege of the Japanese ambassador's home in Lima. Only one of the 72 hostages died and all 14 Marxist guerrillas were killed after crack troops moved in.

The former engineering professor, known for his "act first, inform later" approach to crises has also got tough on a crumbling economy, communist guerrillas, and his wife, who he divorced after a bitter split in 1995.

Star Rating: ****** (+** if he poses in that vest).

Second newest leader on show (after Russia, where they change so often it doesn't really count) is Sir Mekere Morauta, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea.

Sir Mekere, a former central bank director, was elected last month, replacing Bill Skate, who resigned amid a political and economic crisis.

Among Sir Mekere's first decisions were to review Mr Skate's controversial deal recognising Taiwan, and launch a state asset privatisation campaign.

Star Rating: **** (More if the Taiwan deal comes up and outrages mainland China).

The man keeping an eye out for process servers trying to hit him with another paternity suit is Joseph Estrada, President of the Philippines, who at last count admitted to 11 children to five women.

The former tough guy movie star could provide the most colourful quotes at Apec.

Case in point: after refusing a DNA test to determine whether yet another child was his, he said it would open the floodgates and "I might run out of blood."

But despite his colourful style, the economy has improved, crime has fallen, and he has won plaudits at international summits.

Star Rating: ******* (+** if he makes a guest appearance on Shortland St).

It may be premature to write too much about Russia's Prime Minister - they change faster than you can say: "Looking good, Boris".

But, this week at least, the man in the hot seat is Vladimir Putin, Russia's fifth PM in 18 months.

Mr Putin was a former KGB agent in East Germany, headed its replacement, the Federal Security Service, and has been nicknamed "The Grey Cardinal".

His job security has been slightly enhanced with President Yeltsin endorsing him as the next President. Commentators, however, say Mr Putin will have to be wary of looking too good, too soon - the fate of his predecessors.

Star Rating: ******* (more if he wears a trenchcoat over his leader's shirt).

Leader of the most squeaky clean member of the Apec fold is Goh Chok Tong, Prime Minister of Singapore.

The city state's leader had big shoes to fill, taking over in 1990 from elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew. Mr Lee's paternalistic approach, regulating everything from household noise to spitting, has been loosened slightly by his successor, a former economist.

However, he still sets social standards. In 1996 he came up with two measures to make Singapore a more gracious society: better singing and cleaner public lavatories.

Star Rating: ***** (more if he's brave enough to check out our public loos).

The man hunting for his seat could be Chiang Pin-kung, Chairman of Taiwan's Council for Economic Planning and Development. That's because Apec calls Taiwan "Chinese Taipei" to avoid upsetting the mainland Chinese, then goes and seats its delegate under "T" in the alphabetical seating order, so he doesn't have to rub shoulders with China's top man.

Which explains why the island economy does not send its top politician to one of the few forums where China allows it to be represented.

Dr Chiang has a doctorate in agricultural economics and is a minister without portfolio in Taiwan's Government.

Star Rating: **** (more if the war of words heats up again).

Still grappling with the backwash from the Asian crisis is Chuan Leekpai, Prime Minister of Thailand. Trained as a lawyer, Mr Leekpai also studied painting and sculpture before entering politics, and held a wide variety of portfolios before becoming Prime Minister in 1992 during an anti-military popular uprising.

Still trying to revive his battered currency, the baht, Mr Leekpai may look to his Apec colleagues for more than just words of encouragement.

Star Rating: ***** (+** if he does his own leader portraits).

A former revolutionary (first he helped see off the French, then the US), Phan Van Khai is now Prime Minister of Vietnam.

After fighting the French in the 1940s and 50s, Mr Khai worked for the "liberation administration" in the southern battlefieds during the 1970s American war, then rose through the ranks of the Communist Party, becoming PM in 1997.

He is now seen as a reformer in the party leadership.

Although the Vietnamese economy largely escaped the Asian crisis, its outlook is uncertain, with foreign investors nervous about the future.

Star Rating: ****

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