More protests being staged against Haryanto<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Three groups held separate demonstrations in
\nJakarta yesterday over the government's disclosure that Minister
\nof Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto is under investigation for
\nalleged misconduct.<\/p>\n
Forty students from the Association of Moslem Students and the
\nCommunication Forum for Islamic University Students filed
\npetitions at the Attorney General's Office demanding a thorough
\ninvestigations into the allegations.<\/p>\n
\"We support clean government,\" read one of the banners
\nunfurled during the brief protest.<\/p>\n
Attorney General spokesman Pontas Pasaribu said the government
\nwould look into the allegations but would not form a special
\ninvestigation team.<\/p>\n
Another demonstration outside the Ministry of Transportation
\non Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta, was dispersed by
\npolice.<\/p>\n
The 15 protesters distributed statements by Pijar Indonesia
\n(Center for Information and Action Network for Reform) and the
\nCenter for Information and Education on Human Rights (PIPHAM).<\/p>\n
Pijar's statement called for Haryanto's resignation and
\ntransparency in relation to the wealth of government officials
\nand their families.<\/p>\n
PIPHAM demanded an anti-corruption law which includes the
\npublic disclosure of officials' wealth, \"from the President to
\nthe heads of sub-districts.\" Disclosure of the wealth of
\nofficial's families should also be mandatory, the group said.<\/p>\n
Fosko 66, a group of former student activists, sent a
\nstatement saying that Haryanto should resign pending an official
\ninvestigation.<\/p>\n
Haryanto visited Vice President Try Sutrisno yesterday at the
\nlatter's official residence on Jl. Diponegoro, their third
\nmeeting over the affair.<\/p>\n
\"We held a long discussion. I gave him everything down to the
\nsmallest details,\" Haryanto told reporters later. \"He asked me to
\nwait. I will be summoned by the President.\"<\/p>\n
Try has been asked by President Soeharto to follow up on a
\nseries of reports filed by Inspector General for Development
\nKentot Harseno listing instances of alleged misconduct --
\nincluding nepotism, favoritism and financial mismanagement -- on
\nthe part of Haryanto since he took charge of the Ministry of
\nTransportation in 1993.<\/p>\n
Copies of Harseno's reports, which are classified government
\ndocuments, were leaked to the media last week.<\/p>\n
The allegations against Haryanto, as reported by the press,
\ninclude the removal of Anwar Supriyadi as president of state
\nrailway company Perumka as a result of a personal disliking.<\/p>\n
Anwar, a highly-respected official, had apparently been
\nquestioning the use of Perumka funds for the construction of
\nHaryanto's personal residence in Bandung, according to the
\nreport.<\/p>\n
Also on the list, the alleged use of US$244,000 of funds
\nbelonging to national flag carrier Garuda by Haryanto's wife
\nduring a trip to Europe, and the use of Rp 2.8 billion ($1.2
\nmillion) to pay for a racing car and a race driving course for
\nhis son, Kikik, in the United States.<\/p>\n
The reports, based on allegations by the ministry's top
\nechelon, claimed that the minister rarely used Garuda when
\ntraveling overseas, yet the carrier was expected to pick up the
\ntab for his trips.<\/p>\n
All state companies under the ministry are required to pay
\nspecial levies which are used to pay for the minister's overseas
\ntrips, according to press reports.<\/p>\n
Political analyst Arbi Sanit of the University of Indonesia
\nsaid yesterday that the allegations are particularly detrimental
\nto the Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI) and
\nits chairman, B.J. Habibie, who is also state minister of
\nresearch and technology.<\/p>\n
Haryanto sits on the ICMI board.<\/p>\n
\"Morally, Habibie bears some responsibility, as he brought
\nHaryanto into the cabinet,\" Arbi said.<\/p>\n
Arbi said that whoever leaked the documents to the public had
\nintended to weaken ICMI.<\/p>\n
Asked whether such political rivalry would hurt the public,
\nArbi said \"we can just watch and enjoy\" the highlighting of the
\nmisuse of public funds.<\/p>\n
Amien Rais of Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, and a
\nmember of ICMI board, agreed that the affair is damaging ICMI and
\nHabibie.<\/p>\n
\"Some groups do not like Habibie's stress on reform and prefer
\nthe status quo,\" Amien said<\/p>\n
The \"political game is highly unfair because other corruptors
\nhave walked away unscathed,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The anti-Habibie groups are using the momentum of the removal
\nof former minister of trade Satrio J.B. Joedono earlier this
\nmonth to target Haryanto and possibly to remove Habibie, Amien
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"But I am convinced that the President will not follow the
\nwishes of these wild groups just like that,\" he said without
\nidentifying anyone in particular. (imn\/pwn\/har\/01\/swe\/anr)<\/p>",
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