Bulogate 2

Bulogate 2

Former Golkar Party House of Representatives member Bambang
Warih Kusuma has a piece of good advice for embattled House
speaker Akbar Tanjung: be honest and openly explain where the Rp
40 billion of money taken out of the coffers of the Bulog
national logistics agency went, or your political career will be
over.

Indonesians are certainly no strangers to allegations of
corruption on a grand scale taking place in Bulog, the state-
controlled agency whose duty it was to see to it that food and
other basic necessities were available in sufficient quantity and
at affordable prices throughout the year for the country's 210
million population. Given the virtual monopoly that the agency
enjoyed and the climate of unbridled corruption that existed in
the days of ex-President Suharto's New Order regime, such
suspicions are easy to understand although much less easy to
prove.

This time around, however, the case presents us with a number
of additional aspects that certainly deserve some deeper
investigation -- something many in the reformist camp are
currently seeking to pursue and many in the opposite camp are
ardently seeking to block. At stake at the end of it all is
nothing less than the credibility of Akbar Tanjung as the speaker
of parliament and possibly the future of his Golkar Party as
well.

The case, popularly known as Bulogate 2, involves the
disbursement and use of some Rp 54.6 billion in funds, taken out
of the Bulog coffers between March and September 1999. Rp 10
billion of the money was reportedly handed over to the then
Minister of Defense and military commander Gen. (ret.) Wiranto to
cover public security expenditures, and a little over Rp 1.6
billion was loaned to PT Goro Batara Sakti corporation, the
company set up by, among others, Suharto's youngest son, Hutomo
"Tommy" Mandala Putra.

The main bone of contention, however, is the remaining Rp 40
billion (US$3.9 million), which witnesses have said was handed
over to Akbar Tanjung in his position as State Secretary/Cabinet
Secretary. The money was disbursed on the orders of then Bulog
chief and Minister of Industry and Trade Rahardi Ramlan, who in
his turn gave the orders under instruction from then President
B.J. Habibie. It helps to understand the suspicions of foul play
if one remembers that March-April 1999 -- which was when Akbar
reportedly received the checks -- was the period of the run-up to
that year's general election.

Rahardi, who has been named a suspect in the case by the
Attorney General's Office, testified that Akbar took Rp 40
billion of the total and Wiranto Rp 10 billion. In the most
damaging testimony against Akbar so far, Rahardi's deputy at
Bulog, Achmad Ruskandar, said under investigation that he
personally handed over the money in three separate checks to
Akbar, as instructed by his former superior, Rahardi Ramlan.

This, however, contradicts earlier statements by Akbar Tanjung
that he merely witnessed the handing over of the checks by
Ruskandar to Dadang Sukandar, the chairman of the Raudlatul
Jannah Islamic Foundation, which was, supposedly, contracted by
Bulog to distribute food and other basic necessities among the
people. Another inconsistency in Akbar's testimony concerns his
statement that the money was handed over to the Raudlatul Jannah
Foundation at the recommendation of the then Minister for
People's Welfare and Poverty Relief, Haryono Suyono -- a
statement which the latter flatly rejected.

Indonesians will in the coming days no doubt continue to
follow the maze-like trails of this unusual case with a good deal
of interest. In the meantime, it is in the interests of House
Speaker Akbar Tanjung himself to listen to good advice and
explain the whole affair honestly and openly. Setting up a
parliamentary committee to look into it would be a good
beginning. As for the legal side, just let the law take its
course.