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.