'Everyone got the Bulog money'

Disgusted by recriminations that Golkar swindled most of the Rp 54 billion involved in the Bulog scam, the State Minister of Communications and Information, Syamsul Muarif, said that most major political parties got a share of the money.

"I was once told that only the People's Democratic Party (PRD) was the only party that didn't receive money from the Bulog funds," Syamsul Muarif, also from Golkar, claimed without revealing his source.

"Of course (then president B.J.) Habibie when he distributed the funds to the political parties did not get receipts from those who accepted it," he added.

In a thinly veiled threat, Syamsul said there were quite a few Golkar members more than willing to discuss the facts publicly, which he claimed would drag many political parties down.

There was no immediate information available as to whether Golkar is using this information to avoid the establishment of a House of Representatives special commission into the scandal. --JP