Focusing on Bulog, Brunei scams

This is the last of two articles by George J. Aditjondro on how President Abdurrahman Wahid and Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri have failed in eliminating the corrupt practices of their predecessors. In fact, the indications are abundant that the President and Vice President's close circles are engaged in the same practices. In the first article, George wrote about the nepotistic practices of two younger brothers of the President, Wahid Hasyim and Salahuddin Wahid.

NEWCASTLE, Australia (JP): Finally, Umar Wahid, the third younger brother who has managed to keep out of the limelight, has also been able to profit from his background as a medical doctor (MD).

He promoted Achmad Suyudi, the former director of the Sarjito state hospital in Yogyakarta to become Gus Dur's Health Minister. In return, Suyudi has appointed several cadres of Gus Dur's political party, PKB (Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa = the National Awakening Party), to become the department's new director generals.

They, in turn, allegedly marked up prices of drugs for the public to raise funds for the party, as well as for their own and the Wahid family pockets.

Umar Wahid, who is also the President's personal doctor, has not personally benefited from Suyudi's appointment. A brother-in- law of his, however, has allegedly been appointed to supply medical equipment to several state hospitals.

As if the President's alleged nepotism were not bad enough, Gus Dur's sense of Indonesia's economic crisis has also left many of his own friends bewildered.

Last September, people were shocked to read a statement by a palace spokesperson that the travel-hungry head of state was considering buying a US$60 million twin-engined Boeing 737-800 for the President's use. The President immediately dismissed those reports (Associated Press, Sept. 6, 2000; Indonesian Observer, Sept. 6 & 8, 2000).

A similar brief controversy developed in Jakarta, when the media reported that Gus Dur's family and inner circle of friends had hired a British political consultant, Nigel Oakes, to launch a US$2 million public relations campaign to improve the President's public profile.

Oakes eventually closed shop and left the country, after one presidential insider had paid him US$300,000 cash for a two-month media campaign (Asian Wall Street Journal, Aug. 1, 2000; The Independent, Aug. 6, 2000; Sydney Morning Herald, Aug. 8, 2000).

Having to deal with an increasingly hostile House on Jan. 16, 2001, when the results of the 'Buloggate' and 'Bruneigate' investigation committee will be tabled, one should not overlook the selective targeting of corruption by the group of 237 legislators.

In relation to the State Logistics Agency, Bulog, the so- called "Buloggate" scandal of Rp 35 billion is much less than the Rp 76.7 billion property-for-equity swap which should have landed Tommy Soeharto and his two collaborators, Ricardo Gelael and Beddu Amang, the former Bulog head who made the deal with Tommy, in jail (The Jakarta Post, Nov. 29, 2000).

Yet, none of these legislators have called for the head of Beddu Amang. Neither have they demanded that other well-connected business people who also had abused the Bulog foundation's funds be taken to court.

This is despite the fact that the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP) had found irregularities of about Rp 166 billion ($19.5 million) in the nonbudgetary funds of Bulog. Those funds were used to boost the businesses of Soeharto's eldest daughter, Siti Hardijanti Rukmana, Alwin Arifin, a son of former Bulog chief Bustanil Arifin, and Johnny Syarief, Bustanil's nephew. Alwin allegedly received Rp 35 billion, while Johnny allegedly received Rp 40 billion (Kompas, June 5, 2000; The Jakarta Post, June 13 & 27, 2000).

The "Buloggate" and "Bruneigate" scandals combined also involved less public funds than those embezzled by the former KOSTRAD commander, Gen. Djadja Suparman.

Therefore, it is interesting to observe that the anti-Gus Dur lobby in the House has made no serious effort to investigate this much larger -- Rp 189 billion (US$22 million) -- "Kostradgate" scandal (Tempo, Aug. 7-13, 2000, cover story; The Jakarta Post, Sept. 22, 2000).

Also, all the exposed corruption scandals of Gus Dur and his family and cronies together still pale in comparison to the Bank Bali scandal of Rp 546 billion, which was one of the cases that ended Habibie's presidency in October 1999. This corruption case involved many members of Habibie's inner circle from the then ruling party, Golkar, and has never been properly investigated (Kompas, Nov. 7, 1999).

Finally, in the zeal to herald a potential Megawati takeover of the presidency, the anti-Gus Dur lobby has only focused all their anti-corruption campaign on the President's relatives and inner circle of friends.

This is despite the fact that the MPR session held last August practically handed over the daily running of the government to the Vice President, whose husband, Taufik Kiemas, has also been the focus of several media reports which portray the South Sumatran businessman as rescuing the Texmaco boss, Marimutu Sinivasan, from criminal investigations after allegedly accepting a position as commissioner of the conglomerate (Tajuk, March 2, 2000: 18-21; Detikcom, May 20, 2000).

Apart from his alleged closeness to Texmaco, the Vice President's husband has also attracted media attention for winning a subway project in Jakarta, a Java-wide railway project from Merak to Banyuwangi, and the Trans Papua highway in West Papua.

One by one these multi-billion dollar projects have seemed to fall into Kiemas' lap, even though he has no significant business background apart from running several gas stations in the Jakarta metropolitan area (Panji Masyarakat, Aug. 30, 2000, cover story).

Such a cozy relationship between the business world and Megawati's extended family does not seem to be limited to her husband.

Two of Taufik Kiemas's younger brothers, Santayana Kiemas and M. Nazaruddin, have allegedly accepted appointments as commissioners of one of the Gajah Tunggal companies, to rescue Syamsul Nursalim, the conglomerate's boss, from similar criminal prosecution (Tajuk, March 2, 2000: 18-21).

One can conclude from this that the move to have the near- blind President impeached is merely an attempt to cover up and protect a convergence of old and new vested interests.

These forces or interest groups include sections of Megawati's PDI-Perjuangan, Soeharto's former ruling party, Golkar, the alliance of Muslim parties, and sections in the armed forces, which merely channel their opposition through the 237 legislators to create a facade of democracy.

The allegations of corruption aimed at Gus Dur's inner circle are in this case only a political football, since those who accuse the President of 'corruption, collusion, and nepotism' are themselves covering up corruption, collusion and nepotism in their own ranks.

It would be much healthier for the political fabric of the state as well as for the national economy, if the campaign to eradicate corruption in Gus Dur's ranks be combined with a collective will to eradicate all forms of corruption, including those originating from the previous regimes, which have brought this wonderful country to the brink of economic bankruptcy.

Only the synergy between a free press, an independent judiciary, free and fair trade watchdogs, opposition parties, and a legislative body created by free and fair elections without predetermined seats for any political group -- military or civilian, religious or secular -- can repress corruption to a minimal level.

Without that, anti-corruption campaigns originating from within the body politic are simply a political football. Just like these investigations by the House into "Buloggate" and "Bruneigate".

The writer teaches at the department of sociology and anthropology at the University of Newcastle in Australia.