Buloggate 2
Former Golkar Party and House of Representatives member Bambang Warih Kusuma has a piece of good advice for embattled House Speaker Akbar Tandjung: Be honest and openly explain where the Rp 40 billion of money taken out of the coffers of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) 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 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 Soeharto'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 Tandjung as the speaker of the legislature and possibly the future of his Golkar Party as well.
The case, locally called Buloggate II, 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/military commander Gen. Wiranto to cover public security expenditures, and a little over Rp 1.6 billion was loaned to PT Goro Batara Sakti corporation, a company set up by, among others, Soeharto'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 in his position as state secretary. The money was disbursed on the orders of then Bulog chief and minister of industry and trade Rahardi Ramelan, who in his turn gave the orders reportedly under instruction from then president B.J. Habibie. It helps to understand the suspicions of foul play if one remembers that March and 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, made a statement that he personally handed over the money in three separate checks to Akbar, as instructed by his former superior, Rahardi Ramelan.
This, however, contradicts earlier statements by Akbar that he merely witnessed the handing over of the checks by Ruskandar to Dadang Sukandar, the chairman of the Islamic Raudlatul Jannah 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 coordinating minister for people's welfare and poverty eradication 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 Akbar himself to listen to good advice and explain the whole affair honestly and openly. Setting up a legislative committee to look into it would be a good beginning. As for the legal side, just let the law take its course.