Deceitful grandstanding<\/p>\n
Anyone who heard President B.J. Habibie's accountability
\nspeech before the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) on
\nThursday night would have been disappointed, not to say
\ndumbfounded, to find that it differed little from his state of
\nthe nation address on the eve of Independence Day on Aug. 17. It
\nwas essentially a rehash of his calculated playing with the truth
\nfrom two months ago, designed wholly to support his shameless bid
\nto stay in power.<\/p>\n
His stratagem remained the same. He went to great lengths to
\nflaunt what he claims is his record of economic achievement since
\ntaking office, but deftly sidestepped the crucial issues which
\nhave completely destroyed domestic and international trust in his
\nleadership. Almost all major international creditors have stopped
\ndisbursing aid to Indonesia because they are no longer willing to
\nentrust a single cent to the Habibie administration.<\/p>\n
Never in its 54-year history has Indonesia's international
\nstanding hit such a nadir. The nation has suffered one
\ninternational indignity after another due to the loss of domestic
\nand international trust in Habibie's leadership and the egregious
\nabuses of human rights by rogue elements within the military,
\nwhose chief, Gen. Wiranto, is now his vice presidential running
\nmate.<\/p>\n
When the International Monetary Fund (IMF) needs due diligence
\non banks and state companies for restructuring under the US$43
\nbillion bailout program it is arranging, it demands foreign
\nauditors. Likewise, the IMF, not trusting the independence of
\ngovernment institutions, demanded that PricewaterhouseCoopers be
\nhired to investigate the Bank Bali scandal.<\/p>\n
The nation was forced to accept a multinational peacekeeping
\nforce in its 27th province, East Timor, last month after weeks of
\nrampant destruction of property and human life by TNI-backed
\nmilitias. The United Nations Human Rights Commissioner (UNHRC)
\nfurther humiliated Indonesia by voting to send a team to
\ninvestigate alleged TNI atrocities, even though the National
\nCommission on Human Rights has set up an investigative team of
\nits own.<\/p>\n
Habibie devoted about 11 pages of his 43-page address to
\neconomic matters, ticking off low inflation, a large increase in
\ngross foreign exchange reserves, declining interest rates and the
\nrise in the Jakarta Stock Exchange price index. He recounted the
\nmeasures already taken in bank and private debt restructuring.<\/p>\n
But he danced around the damning indicators of his sorry
\nleadership; a virtual stop in foreign direct investment, steady
\ndecline in exports despite the weak rupiah and an increase of
\nmore than $20 billion in government foreign debt during his 512-
\nday tenure.<\/p>\n
He touts his dubious economic gains like a pathetic
\nendorsement of his suitability to lead, but what drowns out his
\nself-serving words is his failure in the most crucial tasks:
\ncombating corruption, collusion and nepotism, which are the main
\ncause of the economic crisis, and empowering law enforcement.<\/p>\n
Habibie pledged a few hours after he stepped into the shoes of
\nhis mentor, Soeharto, on May 21, 1998, that he would go all out
\nto fight corruption, collusion and nepotism. He has not lived up
\nto his word; only two or three major corruption cases have
\nreached the courts. If anything, his government has made further
\nmockery of the country's already laughable law enforcement. It
\nhas stopped a corruption investigation into Soeharto and resorted
\nto all manner of tricks to cover up the Bank Bali scandal which
\nimplicates his close aides.<\/p>\n
A few hours before Habibie delivered his accountability
\nspeech, the South Jakarta District Court, after a trial of almost
\nfive months, showed scorn for the people's sense of justice by
\nacquitting Soeharto's youngest son, Hutomo \"Tommy\" Mandala Putra,
\nof all charges related to his multimillion dollar land swap deal
\nwith the State Logistics Agency.<\/p>\n
The decision to let Tommy off scot-free, its timing displaying
\nthe ultimate arrogance and contempt toward our long-suffering
\npeople, is nothing short of disgusting. Tommy, the youngest of a
\nbrood of siblings renowned for their avarice, is the only one to
\nhave been tried although some 100 business contracts awarded to
\nthe Soehartos have been canceled due to collusion and nepotism.<\/p>\n
Little wonder the capital market was spooked and the rupiah
\nplunged on Wednesday on the news that the Golkar Party
\nreconfirmed Habibie as its presidential candidate and Wiranto as
\nhis vice presidential running mate.<\/p>\n
Vigorous law enforcement and good governance -- clean,
\nrespectable, credible and legitimate -- are crucial determinants
\nof a country's wealth and the degree of its social cohesion and
\ndecency. They are the qualities sadly lacking in the Habibie
\ngovernment despite the President's pretty words and simpering,
\ndelusional professions to democracy.<\/p>\n
Now it is up to the members of the MPR. We are convinced that
\nthese 700 representatives of the people, elected in the free and
\nfair June elections, would not be so insane, ignorant or deluded
\nto imperil the survival of their country by repeating the fatal
\nmistake of the 1998 MPR. They, and Habibie, would do well to
\nremember that Soeharto's unanimous election, which went totally
\nagainst prevailing public opinion, could not stop him from being
\nunceremoniously dumped two months later on a wave of mass unrest.<\/p>",
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