From Jenkins to Winters

From Jenkins to Winters

When Sydney Morning Herald journalist David Jenkins wrote in
1986 that president Soeharto, his children and cronies were
abusing his position to amass personal fortunes, the Indonesian
government's response was harsh and swift. A whole planeload of
Australian tourists arriving in Bali was turned back as Indonesia
canceled a visa-on-arrival agreement, the government issued a
blanket ban on all Australian journalists, and the Armed Forces
canceled automatic rights for Royal Australian Air Force planes
to fly over its territory. Relations between the two countries
suffered a major setback, and it took many years and enormous
diplomatic resources for the two nations to mend fences.

Given the tyrannical nature of Soeharto's rule, that kind of
erratic response was not surprising. Still, in retrospect, one
wonders today what might have happened if the government had used
Jenkins' articles to launch an investigation into his accusations
of corruption. Instead, we have had to wait a full 12 years for
these allegations to be probed, and then, only half-heartedly.

The present government of President B.J. Habibie seems not to
have learned anything from this incident. This week it reacted in
almost the same fashion to an accusation by Jeffrey Winters of
Northwestern University in Chicago, except stopping short of
ruining Indonesia-U.S. relations. Instead of taking a cue from
Winters' allegations of corruption, the government turned against
the accuser. Rather than going after the corruptors alleged by
Winters, the government asked the police to go after Winters, on
charges of slandering government officials.

Winters, like Jenkins, has spent a great deal of time studying
Indonesia and he is undoubtedly an authoritative scholar on the
subject. Whatever he has to say carries some weight. This
includes his suggestion that senior government officials lack the
political will to investigate corruption, not only because they
fear former president Soeharto, but also because many of them
could be dragged down into the mire by any investigation's
results.

Among the officials he singled out in his media conference on
Monday in Jakarta was Ginandjar Kartasasmita, the coordinating
minister for economy, finance and industry, who recently
initiated a fact-finding team to investigate World Bank funds
that had allegedly been siphoned off. Winters said Ginandjar had
been accused of collusive practices in his dealings with PT
Freeport Indonesia -- the giant American copper and gold mining
company -- during his tenure as mines and energy minister between
1988 and 1993. The American scholar said that until Ginandjar
could absolve himself of these accusations, his credibility to
lead an anticorruption institution should be put in doubt.

Irrespective of whether Winters is right or wrong in his
accusations, the government's reaction has only enhanced the
public perception that it is still not serious about stamping out
corruption in high places. Habibie has never taken the initiative
to investigate allegations of corruption against his predecessor
and political mentor. Instead, he has simply responded to
pressure, giving in as little as possible and limiting the scope
of any investigation as much as possible.

Initially, he commissioned the attorney general to investigate
the assets of five charity foundations headed by Soeharto. Later
he agreed to allow an investigation of Soeharto's personal bank
accounts overseas. He has yet to agree to a full-blown
investigation into the massive wealth accumulated by Soeharto's
children and cronies. It is obvious to anyone but Habibie that
this is a good place to start an investigation.

We detect a systematic pattern by the government to deny
corruption, and shift the burden of proof on to those who pointed
their fingers. The Attorney General's Office has threatened to
drag politician Amien Rais, business consultant Christianto
Wibisono and Australian-based scholar George Aditjondro in for
questioning by force if they reject summonses to support their
claims of corruption in high places. Aditjondro's published book
detailing the extensive business involvement of the Soeharto and
Habibie clans should provide sufficient stimulus to kick start
any investigation without having to summon the author.

It is no wonder the government has drawn a blank in its
investigation, if we could call it an investigation. Yet, despite
its obvious ineptitude, the government is still willing to waste
so much time, public money and resources on chasing and
intimidating those making accusations of corruption. If that same
time, money and resources had been devoted instead toward
investigating the accusations, the government would probably have
gone a long way toward achieving its objective. But as we all
know, it ultimately boils down to political will, which one
requires a microscope to find in the current regime. Between
Jenkins and Winters, it seems nothing has changed. We can only
wonder how long it will be before a planeload of American
tourists is turned back.