Focusing on Bulog, Brunei scams

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.