Damning accusations dog Wiranto's bid

Damning accusations dog Wiranto's bid

Tiarma Siboro and Abdul Khalik, Jakarta

The challenges to Wiranto's presidential bid have taken another
twist after his former aide in the Indonesian Military (TNI) Maj.
Gen. (ret) Kivlan Zein revealed that the Golkar Party candidate
had a key role in the deployment of civilian guards during
national assembly meeting in November 1998.

Kivlan, then the chief of staff of the Army Strategic Reserve
Command (Kostrad), said he was ordered by Wiranto, who was the
TNI chief, to hire youths to block the demonstrating students
from disrupting the Special Session of People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR). The MPR legislators endorsed the appointment of
B.J Habibie as the president, formally replacing Soeharto, who
had stepped down six months earlier.

"Wiranto said it was a secret operation and he asked me to
cover the expenses myself with the assumption that I would be
reimbursed later," Kivlan said.

Clashes erupted between the civilian guards, who were armed
with sharpened bamboos, and the students.

The operation was initially discussed between the two, but
later it involved former Jakarta Military Commander Lt. Gen.
Djadja Suparman and former Jakarta Police Chief Insp. Gen. (ret)
Nugroho Djajusman, Kivlan said.

He said he hired 30,000 people from, among other places,
Jakarta, Lampung, Makassar and Banten as civilian guards, known
as PAM Swakarsa, for the operation that cost him around Rp 5
billion (US$543,000).

"I've already told Wiranto several times that we have
unsettled business. He cannot just contest the presidency,"
Kivlan said, adding that he had done his thesis on the PAM
Swakarsa to obtain his master's degree from the University of
Indonesia.

But Wiranto's top campaign strategist Lt. Gen. (ret) Suaidi
Marasabessy denied the accusation and chalked it up as another
attempt at character assassination of Wiranto.

Wiranto, who is contesting the presidential election from the
Golkar Party, has been linked to a number of past crimes against
humanity while he was the TNI chief.

"This most recent accusation is aimed at assassinating
Wiranto's character to foil his presidential bid because the PAM
Swakarsa thing is already an old issue. Why does he raise the
issue now, during the election?" asked Suaidi, who was Kivlan's
classmate in the Military Academy.

Suaidi said he met Kivlan two weeks before the Golkar
convention in April to discuss the matter.

"I offered him Rp 200 million as a friend to help him deal
with his financial problem," said Suaidi.

But Kivlan said he refused the money because Suadi did not
want to give him a receipt as a proof of money transfer.

Kivlan said he had sold his two houses in Jakarta and Surabaya
and cars to pay the debts incurred from the 1998 operation.

He said Habibie had allocated sufficient funds through Wiranto
for the recruitment but he had never been reimbursed.

Kivlan said only Rp 1.25 billion was given to him, and that
came from the Jimly Asshiddiqie -- then Habibie's aide and the
current Constitutional Court chief.

The House of Representatives has found no indications of
irregularities in the use of Rp 10 billion in state funds for the
operation to secure the MPR special session in 1998.

Suaidi said his team was considering a lawsuit against Kivlan.