Control businesses of senior officials' children: Lawyer

JAKARTA (JP): The government must regulate the business activities of children of senior officials, a noted corporate lawyer said yesterday.

Todung Mulya Lubis, also known as a vocal human rights campaigner, said a ruling was necessary to prevent collusion between officials' children and the authorities which could eventually affect the health of the nation's business climate.

Arguing that officials' children could easily win government contracts on the basis of their parents' influence rather than business professionalism, Mulya said that "a stricter government policy on business tenders should be introduced so that all bids can be carried out transparently."

Such a ruling would ensure that bidders competed fairly and openly, he said, adding that it would enable companies to file lawsuits if they thought that they had been treated unfairly.

Mulya said he did not see anything wrong with officials' children going into business, as long as they did not abuse the privileges of their fathers' positions.

The question of the business activities of the offspring of senior government officials was raised by some members of the House of Representatives in a hearing with Attorney General Singgih early this week, during a discussion of the current campaign against corruption and collusion.

Meanwhile, one of the children of President Soeharto who has made a successful career in business said yesterday that he did not see anything wrong with children of officials indulging in business so long as their activities were not detrimental to the interests of the people.

"I think it's pretty legitimate for the children of government officials to run businesses as long they don't harm society and the people," said Hutomo Mandala Putra, Soeharto's youngest son, popularly known as Tommy, who controls the flourishing Humpuss Group.

Tommy said the officials themselves should be allowed to go into business as long as they were "committed" to their responsibilities, Antara reported.

Children of officials were citizens of the country and therefore had rights equal to those of others, he said. "Why should they be barred from going into business?" he added.

Tommy made the remarks after attending the annual shareholders meeting of the government-sponsored cooperative Inkud KUD.

On Wednesday, Siti Hardianti Rukmana, Soeharto's eldest daughter, defended her business activities, saying that children of officials had to make a living too.

"The children of officials are human. They have to do something, they have to feed their family. Can the state guarantee them a living if they don't work?" Hardianti, more popularly known as Mbak Tutut (Sister Tutut), was quoted by the Republika daily as saying.

She said that she stands corrected if someone thinks she has committed an error. "If our activities are considered as negative, please correct us. If they are positive, then give us your support."

Mbak Tutut said she regretted hearing reports that some children of officials have abused their positions as close relatives of their fathers.

There could be one or two who did this, she added, but they have given a bad name to all the other children of officials.

Minister of Defense and Security Gen. (ret.) Edi Sudradjat, while also defending the right of the children of government officials to run businesses, concurred with the view that they, like everyone else, must comply with all the regulations.

"As adult citizens they have to live and work. But they have to observe the proper procedures," Edi was quoted by Antara as saying on Wednesday.

The retired general said that it was simply a matter of discipline, of respecting the law and regulations.

State Minister of Administrative Reform T.B. Silalahi said government regulation no. 6/1974 laid down limits on the activities of civil servants and their families.

Under the regulation, the children of the civil servants are considered dependent upon their fathers until they turn 21 years of age, Silalahi said.

He added that the regulation banned the spouses of the civil servants from going into business, but not their children.

The ban, he added, only applied to spouses of senior civil servants of group IV/a and above or, in the case of the Armed Forces, the spouses of high ranking officer. "They cannot trade or own shares, directly or indirectly, in any company," he said. (03/emb)