JP\/4\/harto<\/p>\n
Golkar discusses Soeharto's legal status<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
The Golkar Party is discussing whether to demand the corruption
\ncharges against former president and party leader Soeharto be
\ndropped, or that the case should proceed to court.<\/p>\n
Golkar leader Burhanuddin Napitupulu said here on Thursday
\nthat the move was to respond to Soeharto's requirement that he
\nwould only accept the \"Anugerah Bhakti Pratama\" or Dedicated
\nService Award from the party if it helped \"clarify\" his status
\nbefore the courts.<\/p>\n
The party, which was used by Soeharto to stay in power for 32
\nyears, has named him a recipient of the award along with 44 other
\nsenior figures, many of them Soeharto cronies.<\/p>\n
Burhanuddin was quoted by Antara as saying that a discussion
\nabout Soeharto's charges was held during the three-day Golkar
\nnational leadership meeting.<\/p>\n
Eighty three-year-old Soeharto is a prime suspect in several
\ngraft cases but the Attorney General's Office has never taken the
\ncases to court, accepting claims that he is too disabled to face
\ntrial.<\/p>\n
A supposedly independent team of doctors set up by the AGO,
\nand his defense lawyers say the former autocratic leader is too
\nbrain damaged to properly answer lawyers' questions.<\/p>\n
Despite this, the former president has repeatedly been seen in
\npublic since his downfall in May 1998, looking healthy and able
\nto walk unaided. He also occasionally meets and apparently
\nconverses with well-known public figures.<\/p>\n
Soeharto was to be charged for embezzling huge amounts of
\nstate funds to enrich himself, family and friends for 30 years.<\/p>\n
Other recipients of the awards, conferred for services to the
\nparty, include Soeharto's successor B.J. Habibie, former state
\nsecretary Moerdiono, former manpower minister Cosmas Batubara,
\nformer justice minister Oetojo Oesman, former information
\nminister Harmoko and party figure Basyuni Suriadihardja.<\/p>\n
Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who currently chairs the country's
\nlargest party, will confer the awards before the closing of its
\nthree-day national leadership meeting on Saturday in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Former Golkar leader Akbar Tandjung, who is Kalla's political
\nopponent, and former vice president Sudharmono were not listed
\namong senior party figures to get the awards.<\/p>\n
Golkar executives have argued Akbar had yet to meet the
\nseniority requirement. Akbar was given credit by many as the
\npolitician who managed to rehabilitate Golkar's image with the
\npublic during his leadership from 1999 to 2004.<\/p>\n
Under Akbar, Golkar won 21 percent of the vote in last year's
\ngeneral elections, making it again the nation's largest party.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp4harto-1447899208",
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