REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BANDUNG -- The Bandung-based Institute of Technology (ITB) has bestowed an honorary doctorate degree on Indonesia's sixth president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

"I am happy as the conferment of this honorary doctorate degree took place after I am no longer a president, so it will be free from undue comments and scorns. The conferment of such awards is usually considered to be linked to a certain political agenda," Yudhoyono pointed out.

Yudhoyono made the remarks before delivering a scientific speech at the Hall of the ITB campus here on Monday.

The former president remarked that if the honorary doctorate degree was bestowed when he still held the presidential post, the good intentions of the ITB would be subject to suspicion and speculation from certain parties.

"Owing to the fact that I am no longer a president, the ITB can be free from any prejudice. Nowadays, it is not easy to find a panacea to heal negative thinking," he affirmed.

During the Open ITB Session, Yudhoyono delivered his scientific oration titled "The Contribution of Green Economy to Sustainable Development."

ITB Deputy Rector for Alumni, Communication and General Administration Affairs Dr Miming Miharja had earlier noted that the honorary doctorate degree was awarded by the ITB as a mark of its appreciation for the former president's contributions to science and the pattern of thought on sustainable development.

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