Finish probe on Soeharto before elections: Habibie
JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie on Wednesday called for a quick end to the probe into allegations that fallen president Soeharto illegally amassed a fortune while in power.
"It is hoped that the investigation into former president Soeharto will be completed before the (June 7) general election," Information Minister Muhammad Yunus quoted Habibie as saying. Speaking after a Cabinet meeting, Yunus said he was underlining points Habibie had "stressed" during the last such meeting of the year.
Attorney General Andi M. Ghalib, who heads the Soeharto probe, later said on Wednesday his office would try to meet the scheduled deadline for the investigation into Soeharto's wealth.
"All members of the Attorney General's Office are ready to carry out the investigation," Ghalib told a year-end press conference, adding that his office was carrying out what he called its civic duty.
"It would not be impossible for Soeharto to be a suspect and that would lead to a trial. But it all depends on the investigation carried out by my office later," he added.
The controversial probe into Soeharto's wealth has dragged on since June and come under fire from legal experts and pro- reformists who have accused Ghalib of deliberate foot-dragging.
Suharto, 77, who continues to maintain his innocence, was summoned by Ghalib for questioning for the first time this month.
But Ghalib earlier Wednesday indicated demands by reformists and students that the former president be taken to court were dimming, by saying collusion and nepotism on their own do not qualify as a crime. Estimates of the Soeharto family fortune range between US$ 4 billion and $40 billion.
Corruption
Habibie, a former Soeharto protege, warned that any return to the corruption and nepotism of the Soeharto years must be avoided in the coming financial year.
"We must prevent any leaks and wasteful spending, however small they are. The use of funds must also be transparent and accountable. Ways which might lead to collusion, corruption and nepotism must be eliminated," Yunus quoted him as saying.
Coordinating Minister for Development Supervision and State Administrative Reforms Hartarto said on Tuesday total losses to the state from graft, most of it to members and cronies of the family of Soeharto, stood at Rp 2.85 billion and $205.5 million.
Earlier on Wednesday, former deputy cabinet secretary Bambang Kesowo was questioned at the Attorney General's Office over presidential instructions and decrees concerning the national car program and compulsory donations to the poor.
Bambang, who was named by Soeharto as a person who knew much about his past policies, was questioned for more than five hours by a team of prosecutors led by head of the center for intelligence operations Sudibyo Saleh.
"I came to fulfill the request from the Attorney General's Office to give information about the drafting process of the presidential decree relating to the national car program," Bambang said. He added that he was also asked to explain a 1996 presidential decree which ordered individuals and companies with annual earnings over Rp 100 million to donate 2 percent of their net incomes to the needy.
Bambang said earlier this month that Soeharto had mentioned his name because he processed all presidential decrees or instructions signed by Soeharto during the last few years of his rule, including his instructions on the national car program. (byg)