Damning accusations dog Wiranto's bid<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro and Abdul Khalik, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The challenges to Wiranto's presidential bid have taken another
\ntwist after his former aide in the Indonesian Military (TNI) Maj.
\nGen. (ret) Kivlan Zein revealed that the Golkar Party candidate
\nhad a key role in the deployment of civilian guards during
\nnational assembly meeting in November 1998.<\/p>\n
Kivlan, then the chief of staff of the Army Strategic Reserve
\nCommand (Kostrad), said he was ordered by Wiranto, who was the
\nTNI chief, to hire youths to block the demonstrating students
\nfrom disrupting the Special Session of People's Consultative
\nAssembly (MPR). The MPR legislators endorsed the appointment of
\nB.J Habibie as the president, formally replacing Soeharto, who
\nhad stepped down six months earlier.<\/p>\n
\"Wiranto said it was a secret operation and he asked me to
\ncover the expenses myself with the assumption that I would be
\nreimbursed later,\" Kivlan said.<\/p>\n
Clashes erupted between the civilian guards, who were armed
\nwith sharpened bamboos, and the students.<\/p>\n
The operation was initially discussed between the two, but
\nlater it involved former Jakarta Military Commander Lt. Gen.
\nDjadja Suparman and former Jakarta Police Chief Insp. Gen. (ret)
\nNugroho Djajusman, Kivlan said.<\/p>\n
He said he hired 30,000 people from, among other places,
\nJakarta, Lampung, Makassar and Banten as civilian guards, known
\nas PAM Swakarsa, for the operation that cost him around Rp 5
\nbillion (US$543,000).<\/p>\n
\"I've already told Wiranto several times that we have
\nunsettled business. He cannot just contest the presidency,\"
\nKivlan said, adding that he had done his thesis on the PAM
\nSwakarsa to obtain his master's degree from the University of
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
But Wiranto's top campaign strategist Lt. Gen. (ret) Suaidi
\nMarasabessy denied the accusation and chalked it up as another
\nattempt at character assassination of Wiranto.<\/p>\n
Wiranto, who is contesting the presidential election from the
\nGolkar Party, has been linked to a number of past crimes against
\nhumanity while he was the TNI chief.<\/p>\n
\"This most recent accusation is aimed at assassinating
\nWiranto's character to foil his presidential bid because the PAM
\nSwakarsa thing is already an old issue. Why does he raise the
\nissue now, during the election?\" asked Suaidi, who was Kivlan's
\nclassmate in the Military Academy.<\/p>\n
Suaidi said he met Kivlan two weeks before the Golkar
\nconvention in April to discuss the matter.<\/p>\n
\"I offered him Rp 200 million as a friend to help him deal
\nwith his financial problem,\" said Suaidi.<\/p>\n
But Kivlan said he refused the money because Suadi did not
\nwant to give him a receipt as a proof of money transfer.<\/p>\n
Kivlan said he had sold his two houses in Jakarta and Surabaya
\nand cars to pay the debts incurred from the 1998 operation.<\/p>\n
He said Habibie had allocated sufficient funds through Wiranto
\nfor the recruitment but he had never been reimbursed.<\/p>\n
Kivlan said only Rp 1.25 billion was given to him, and that
\ncame from the Jimly Asshiddiqie -- then Habibie's aide and the
\ncurrent Constitutional Court chief.<\/p>\n
The House of Representatives has found no indications of
\nirregularities in the use of Rp 10 billion in state funds for the
\noperation to secure the MPR special session in 1998.<\/p>\n
Suaidi said his team was considering a lawsuit against Kivlan.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/damning-accusations-dog-wirantos-bid-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }