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.