10 parities 'shared Rp 109b from Bulog'
10 parities 'shared Rp 109b from Bulog'
The Jakarta Post, Medan/Jakarta
Former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid alleged on Friday
that 10 parties received Rp 109 billion (US$10.9 million) from
the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) and former president B.J.
Habibie.
Speaking before alumni of the University of Indonesia, Gus Dur
said he had written evidence from a reliable source.
"My reliable source has all the written evidence and copies of
the receipts," he said as quoted by Antara.
Gus Dur said he would share the information or hand over the
evidence should the police or the Attorney General's Office
request he do so.
He pointed out on Thursday in Medan, North Sumatra, that
besides Golkar, President Megawati Soekarnoputri's Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and Minister of
Defense Matori Abdul Djalil's National Awakening Party (PKB) also
received money.
PDI Perjuangan allegedly received Rp 38 billion while PKB
received Rp 8 billion when it was still chaired by Matori, Gus
Dur said without elaborating.
Gus Dur was impeached in the Special Session of the People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR) in 2001 for his alleged involvement
in the illegal disbursement of Bulog funds to a business
associate. His impeachment split PKB into two factions, the
Matori-led PKB and Alwi Shihab-PKB.
Earlier, Gus Dur said that Vice President Hamzah Haz's Muslim-
based United Development Party (PPP) received Rp 24 billion from
Bulog.
He also said that Golkar did not receive Rp 40 billion from
Bulog, as widely believed, but Rp 54 billion.
Golkar leader Akbar Tandjung is currently being detained at
the Attorney General's Office on a corruption charge. The scandal
centers on the disbursement of Rp 40 billion for relief
assistance to the poor in 1999.
Matori reportedly borrowed the money on behalf of PKB, "But
when checked by PKB treasurer and other PKB leaders, (I learned
that) PKB never received money from Bulog," Gus Dur said.
Gus Dur said he learned that the money flowed from Bulog to
political parties from former Election Committee (KPU) chairman
Rudini but chose not to reveal those findings to the public on
the grounds of presumption of innocence.
Rudini was KPU chairman in the 1999 general election, the
country's freest election in three decades.
"There is a conflict between the public's right to know and
the law's presumption of innocence," Gus Dur said.
"I learned from KPU that there were violations, that Bulog
gave money to a number of political leaders," he added.
He also said that Habibie gave Rp 14 billion to the leader of
a political party but refused to reveal the party's name.
"I don't want to mention the party's name because I have
already told it to law enforcers and it is up to them to
investigate or not," Gus Dur argued.
In Jakarta, Vice President Hamzah Haz and Minister of Defense
Matori Abdul Djalil denied on Thursday ever receiving money from
Bulog, and that Gus Dur's allegation was baseless.
"It is not true," said Hamzah after a Cabinet meeting on
Thursday.
Matori, who called Bulog a cemetery for politicians, also
denied the allegation, saying that as far as he knew it was Gus
Dur who was implicated in the scandal.
"Was it not Gus Dur who was associated to the Bulog scandal,
which resulted in the (MPR) Special Session?" Matori asked,
reiterating his statement that he was not involved.
Commenting on the allegation, National Police chief Gen. Da'i
Bachtiar asked Gus Dur to present his information on the
embezzlement of Bulog funds to the police or the Attorney
General's Office.
"We hope that Gus Dur can bring this information to the police
or to the Attorney General's Office. He could provide the
information by writing a letter or he could visit our office in
person," Da'i said.
"I am not going to ask Gus Dur to come because it would give
the wrong impression if the police summon a former president," he
added.
Da'i further said that every piece of information should be
strongly backed up so the police could investigate corruption
cases.
"It applies to everybody, not just Gus Dur. Anyone who has any
information on any case should come forward so we can follow it
up," he remarked.