Asian executives want Soeharto prosecuted

Asian executives want Soeharto prosecuted

SINGAPORE (AP): Most Asian executives responding to their poll said former Indonesian President Soeharto and his family should be prosecuted for corruption, two regional media organizations said yesterday.

Three-quarters of the respondents to the survey of 350 executives from 10 Asian countries said they felt Soeharto and his family should be tried for graft.

The poll, using questionnaires returned by fax, was conducted by satellite television station CNBC Asia Business News and regional news magazine Far Eastern Economic Review shortly after Asia's longest ruling leader resigned last week.

Respondents were chairmen, managing directors and other top executives of companies in Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.

Despite a majority of top executives favoring prosecution, 80 percent of those surveyed in Indonesia did not feel the former Indonesian leader or his family should face trial, and 78.5 percent of all respondents said they don't expect such legal action to actually take place.

The poll also showed 64.5 percent believing Indonesia should abandon its policy of Dwifungsi (dual function), which gives the military a constitutional role in both political and defense decisions, though the majority of Indonesian respondents say the policy should stay.

If the opposition were elected to power in elections promised soon by new President B.J. Habibie, 54.9 percent of those polled say it would not be a credible alternative to the long-ruling Golkar Party, while 87.3 percent feel any such elections would not be free and fair.

No margin of error was given.

The Far Eastern Economic Review is wholly owned by Dow Jones and Company, which manages a number of prominent newspapers, magazines and news agencies. CNBC Asia Business News is jointly run by Dow Jones and NBC, the broadcasting unit of General Electric.