Experts sceptical but back Mega's calls on BNI
Experts sceptical but back Mega's calls on BNI
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
It remains to be seen whether calls from President Megawati
Soekarnoputri to punish all the culprits behind a bank scandal
reflect genuine concern about corruption or is simply a move to
secure votes in the 2004 general election, analysts say.
All would depend on how the case was resolved in the end,
although experts believe the remarks were a boost for law
enforcers investigating the fraud, economists Anton Gunawan and
Dradjat Wibowo said Tuesday.
"That was good, especially as it came from the President who
is often silent on various issues.
"But, whether it is a sincere bid to eradicate corruption or
just to improve her fame politically, we will only know when the
case is eventually settled," Anton told The Jakarta Post.
On Monday, State Minister for State Enterprises Laksamana
Sukardi said Megawati had ordered a crackdown on those
responsible for the high-profile Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI)
fraud because she believed "no one is untouchable."
The remarks came amid rising speculation of the possible
involvement of well-connected politicians desperately seeking
funds to finance their electoral campaigns, which could pose a
threat to the ongoing probe.
"The statement should serve as a sound backing for enforcers,
to clear them of doubts, if there are any, in dealing with the
case. But still, we need to see whether it could lead to the
finding of the real masterminds.
"If we only see just another shake-up in the bank's board of
directors and put on trial some small time fund recipients,
without real efforts to find the real big fish, then it would be
just another show of ignorance on the part of the government,"
Dradjat said.
Deemed solely at first as a defect in the banking sector, the
scandal has now gained a political dimension, especially now that
the country is bracing for its first-ever direct elections, with
dozens of political parties competing to get a slice of votes
from the about 145 million registered voters.
As the need for campaign financing is huge, allegations are
rife that the BNI fraud was conducted by people associated with
competing political parties.
Unconfirmed reports have it that the scam was orchestrated by
people with close relations to the Golkar party, the country's
second largest -- something that has been strongly denied by its
chairman Akbar Tandjung.
No less than Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf
Kalla, Gen. (ret) Wiranto and businessman Fadel Mohammad were
said to have received funds from people involved in the case.
Fadel serves as one of Golkar's treasurers while Kalla and
Wiranto are two of the party's seven presidential candidates.
No clear evidence has been presented so far. But that has not
stopped the flow of allegations.
Ikrar Nusa Bakti, a noted researcher, has warned of possible
moves by certain parties to use the case to discredit other
parties, without even bothering to fix the root of the problem
itself, corruption.
"If that happens, the outcome will be a political solution, or
compromise, not a legal solution," he was quoted as saying by
this newspaper recently.
"For me, we should all wait for the police's investigation.
Anyone who found guilty -- be it businessmen, state officials or
politicians -- then they must be punished."