Golkar wants house arrest for Soeharto

Golkar wants house arrest for Soeharto

JAKARTA (JP): The ruling Golkar group has joined the bandwagon
of calls to make sure that its former patron and main sponsor,
former president Soeharto is the subject of a corruption
investigation.

Marzuki Darusman, the chairman of the Golkar faction in the
House of Representatives, asked for Soeharto to be placed under
house arrest during a media conference on Saturday.

Marzuki was accompanied by senior Golkar figures, including
secretary-general Tuswandi, deputy chairman Aulia Rachman and
legislators Rully Chairul Azwar, Bomer Pasaribu and Slamet
Effendy Yusuf.

However Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung, in his capacity as
Minister/State Secretary, said separately on Saturday that the
government has no plans to impose a travel ban on former
president Soeharto and his family.

On Tuesday, Amien Rais, the chairman of the National Mandate
Party, first raised the idea of placing Soeharto under city
arrest in response to the new decree on clean governance adopted
by the Special Session of the People's Consultative Assembly on
Nov. 13.

The decree states that officials, their families, cronies and
private parties should be the subjects of thorough corruption
investigations based on the presumption of innocence. Former
president Soeharto is mentioned by name in the decree.

"There are still no plans with regards to former president
Soeharto, except that we intend to set up a commission (to
investigate Soeharto's fortune)," Akbar said after meeting with
President B.J. Habibie and six other ministers.

Reiterating a plan revealed on Thursday by Coordinating
Minister for Development Supervision and State Administrative
Reform Hartarto Sastrosoenarto, Akbar said that Habibie intends
to establish a special commission made up of respected figures
and government officials to investigate the former president.

Hartarto said the "independent" team would work separately
from the government-appointed team led by Attorney General Andi
Muhammad Ghalib.

Meanwhile Marzuki insisted that the government should restrict
Soeharto's movements to prove that it is serious in carrying out
the instructions of the Assembly and investigate Soeharto.

"It should place former president Soeharto under house
arrest," Marzuki said, adding that this would also help to
appease growing public anger directed at the former president.

Students have attempted to march to Soeharto's residence on
Jl. Cendana in Central Jakarta on a number of occasions over the
past few days and have demanded an investigation into corruption
and human rights abuse during his 32-year rule.

Since resigning on May 21, aides have said that Soeharto has
remained in Jakarta, either at his Central Jakarta residence on
Jl. Cendana or at his mansion in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah in
East Jakarta. A source said on Friday that Soeharto was anxious
to visit the his wife's grave in Surakarta, Central Java, but had
been prevented from doing so by security concerns.

The source revealed that student demonstrations near his house
had left Soeharto feeling uneasy regarding his neighbors. "It's
even difficult for him to go to the mosque now," the source said.

On Friday, a Golkar legislator called for funds totaling Rp
836.2 billion held by the Soeharto-controlled Dakab foundation to
be handed over to the state. The foundation was set up in 1985 to
finance Golkar's social activities.

Meanwhile Akbar confirmed that Habibie met five retired
generals last week, including former vice president Gen. (ret)
Try Sutrisno and former Armed Forces (ABRI) chief and minister of
defense Gen. (ret) Edi Sudradjat. The President had explained to
them his reform program and asked for their support.

The meeting took place Thursday night after the three had paid
their last respects to Lt. Gen. (ret) Soeweno, a former chief of
Army Reserve Strategic Command who died earlier that morning.

Akbar said Try expressed his "appreciation" of the reform
program and laughed when asked what Edi's response had been. Edi
is a member of the National Front, a group of vociferous
government critics. Two members of the group have been questioned
by the police and could face charges of treason.

Habibie also received three more members of the National Front
at his residence in Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Thursday evening.

The three -- the former head of ABRI's Strategic Intelligence
Agency (Bais) Lt. Gen. Arie Sudewo, Maj. Gen. (ret) Nugroho and
Maj. Gen. (ret) Sukarno -- "updated (Habibie) on the situation in
the country," Akbar said. (prb/imn)