Kwik vows to speak out against bad conglomerates<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Former economic minister Kwik Kian Gie promised
\non Wednesday to continue speaking out against \"bad conglomerates\"
\nin his new position as a member of the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
Kwik, who resigned from the Cabinet last month just before it
\nwas reshuffled by President Abdurrahman Wahid, however, doubted
\nhis crusade would be anymore effective from outside the Cabinet
\nthan it was from inside, citing a lack of all-round political
\nsupport.<\/p>\n
\"It won't be any more effective. But I will continue to speak
\nout nevertheless,\" Kwik told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
\"The situation is so hopeless,\" he lamented, saying that the
\nAttorney General's Office and the police lacked the political
\nwill as well as the competency to go after the conglomerates,
\nwhom he accused of robbing trillions of rupiahs of public money
\nthrough \"financial engineering\".<\/p>\n
Kwik refrained on Wednesday from calling the business empires
\n\"black\" conglomerates as he has done in the past, recognizing
\ncriticism that the term was a racist one.<\/p>\n
Kwik, who represents the Indonesian Democratic Party of
\nStruggle (PDI Perjuangan) at the House of Representatives,
\nbelieves that there has been a strong and consistent campaign
\nagainst him since the day he was appointed to the Cabinet in
\nOctober.<\/p>\n
The campaign was organized by conglomerates, he said, and
\nmostly took the form of character assassination and direct
\nlobbying of the President. It continued with intensity till the
\nday he resigned from the Cabinet in August, he said.<\/p>\n
The campaign against him ranged from discrediting his
\neducational background and the country's economic record during
\nhis tenure as the government's chief economist, to criticism of
\nthe alleged lack of coordination and unity in his economic team
\nand his past limited associations with businesses, he said.<\/p>\n
These allegations were baseless but were used as a means to
\noust him from the Cabinet, he said, stressing that Indonesia's
\neconomy made remarkable progress during the 10 months he was in
\nthe government.<\/p>\n
Admitting that his campaign against \"bad conglomerates\" would
\nnot likely lead to any court convictions, Kwik said he would
\nspeak out in the House.<\/p>\n
\"It's better than keeping quiet. It will at least serve as a
\nreminder to the public of the problem, and hopefully discourage
\nothers from committing the same sin,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Kwik upset big conglomerates in the last weeks before his
\nresignation by calling for a complete review of the master of
\nsettlement and sales agreements signed by five conglomerates.<\/p>\n
The agreements essentially stated that conglomerates agreed to
\ngive up control of their business assets equal to the amount of
\ntheir debts.<\/p>\n
Kwik said their assets later turned out to be way overvalued
\nto the tune of Rp 80 trillion ($9.6 billion), which will be
\nburdened to the government and therefore taxpayers.<\/p>\n
Losses to the government from the unpaid debts of all the
\nconglomerates could potentially reach Rp 250 trillion, he said.<\/p>\n
Kwik took some comfort in the knowledge that the House last
\nmonth agreed to his proposal to review the agreements.<\/p>\n
\"The matter is now in the hands of the House,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He may well lead the campaign in the House now that he has
\nbeen assigned by his party to serve in commission IX, which deals
\nwith finance and development matters.<\/p>\n
The Dutch-trained economist also promised to resume writing
\nnewspapers columns, something he regularly did before he became a
\nminister in October. His weekly articles, which appeared in
\nKompas and The Jakarta Post, were very popular because of their
\nsharp criticism and analyses of the country's economic situation.<\/p>\n
He said his nine-month stint in the Cabinet had been a real
\neye-opener because although he already knew the economic problems
\nfacing Indonesia -- including corruption and unpaid corporate and
\nbanking debts -- he did not know their real extent until he had
\ndirect access to the statistics.<\/p>\n
\"The reality was shocking,\" he said. \"I learned a lot.\"<\/p>\n
His tenure in the Cabinet looks set to serve him well in his
\nnew role in the House, which he said he intends to use critically
\nin dealing with the government. \"I know the (economic) figures
\noff the top of my head. Perhaps it's an unfair advantage,\" he
\nsaid. (emb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/kwik-vows-to-speak-out-against-bad-conglomerates-1447893297",
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