Akbar denies new corruption charge

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung flatly denied on Friday a fresh bribery allegation, while his colleague suspected the case was aimed at foiling his presidential bid.

Speaking on the sidelines of his campaign in the Southeast Sulawesi provincial capital, Kendari, Akbar said he had never promised anything to anybody to help him fight corruption charges, which he eventually won.

Akbar admitted, however, he knew and had met the self- confessed middleman, prosecutor Kito Irkhani, who has filed a lawsuit against him for failing to pay his Rp 1 billion (US$114,000) assistance fee.

But Akbar said he had never asked Kito to closely monitor his Rp 40 billion corruption case and convince judges that he was innocent.

"I've met him and I know Kito, but I never promised him anything," Akbar, one of Golkar's six presidential aspirants, told Antara.

Kito was found guilty of failing to fulfill a Rp 480 million construction job on a house owned by Ati Mulyati in Puri Cinere, South Jakarta, and was sentenced to one year for should this be deleted? one month and 23 days in 2002.

Last week he submitted to the National Police a statement refusing to be a witness and withdrawing his earlier testimony that implicated Attorney General M.A. Rachman in an alleged corruption case.

Kito's lawyer, Suhardi Somomoeljono, said his client filed the legal suit because after Akbar was acquitted, he failed to give Kito the remaining Rp 675 million of the promised money.

Akbar insisted that he relied mainly on his lawyers, Amir Syamsuddin and Ahmad Jaya Salim, to deal with his trial.

Separately, Golkar deputy secretary-general Syamsul Mu'arif said Kito was attempting to discredit Akbar and dash his chances of contesting the presidential election.

"This is certainly a political move from certain groups aimed at discrediting Akbar and therefore Golkar. But we will follow the due process of law," Syamsul, who is also state minister of communications and information, said.

Akbar's rival in the convention, Jusuf Kalla, said the new court case did not concern the party, but was a personal matter for Akbar.

"Of course, such an allegation will affect the image of Akbar and the ongoing process for the Golkar convention," Kalla said.

Kalla, the incumbent coordinating minister for people's welfare, refused to speculate that Kito's move would boost his chances of winning the convention.

"The convention is about image, and Akbar should go through the legal process," he said.

Golkar, the country's second-largest party, is scheduled to hold a national convention to select its sole presidential candidate as soon as the outcome of the legislative election on April 5 is announced.