Gus Dur's pledge of zero tolerance gets wary support

JAKARTA (JP): A senior political observer greeted on Monday President Abdurrahman Wahid's pledge of zero tolerance in implementing a reform agenda with reservations saying that "violence must be avoided at all costs".

"A humanistic approach must continue and the use of violence must be avoided at all costs," Soedjati Djiwandono told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview.

Soedjati was commenting on Abdurrahman's statement on Saturday that he would abandon a "humanistic approach" and opt for harsher legal measures against elements of the New Order.

The President said tougher measures would be taken against remnants of the past regime claiming that they had wasted the opportunity "to repent, learn their lessons and regain public confidence".

Abdurrahman then accused New Order elements of abusing his tolerance and attempting to stage a political comeback by sabotaging the reform movement.

"President Abdurrahman Wahid is now starting to experience difficulty in convincing the public that his political decision to treat the past regime humanely was the right decision," the Saturday's statement said.

"It turns out that several prominent members of the New Order are in fact unwilling to listen to popular aspirations and it seems that they are intentionally trying to impede the reform agenda," the statement said.

It then said that the situation leaves Abdurrahman with only one option "which is to implement a reform agenda with zero tolerance".

The statement came amid the House of Representatives' ongoing investigation into two financial scandals in which the President is allegedly implicated.

The two are the Rp 35 billion (US$3.6 million) scandal involving the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) last year and the $2 million scandal revolving around a donation from the Sultan of Brunei that the President claimed was a personal gift to be used for humanitarian assistance in the rebellious province of Aceh.

Soedjati said that Abdurrahman's pledge of zero tolerance "in principle" was "a good approach".

He was quick to add, however, that before implementing the approach, Abdurrahman must first prove that his administration was also clean.

"(Abdurrahman) must also prove himself to be a President who leads a good government ... so he must not give the impression that he himself is involved in any bad dealing or create an impression of corruption," Soedjati said.

"So, he has to improve his performance as President and also improve the performance of his entire government ... this will eventually strengthen his position," he added.

Separately, Cholil Bisri, a National Awakening Party (PKB) legislator, supported Abdurrahman's statement as a spontaneous reaction against alleged attempts to discredit his government.

"He (Abdurrahman) is disappointed with Golkar figures' alleged involvement in supporting the (ongoing) demand for his resignation," he said.

Effendi Choiri, another PKB legislator, admitted that the President knew all the parties behind the ongoing attempt to topple him.

"He knows which people are behind the antigovernment demonstrations," he said.

He said the President was also very disappointed with Attorney General Marzuki's bad performance in the cabinet.

PKB sources said Marzuki has recently asked the President to give him six months to improve his performance.

Deputy Golkar chairman Slamet Effendy Yusuf said his party could not be held responsible for all the wrongdoings committed by its cadres and the former New Order's regime.

"Institutionally, Golkar is not responsible for all the wrongdoings of the New Order regime. And former president Soeharto's regime consisted not only of Golkar figures but also those from the bureaucracy and the military," he said.

He said Golkar would have no objections if the present government was stricter against those allegedly involved in corrupt and collusive practices during the New Order era.

"Golkar has and will never prevent the government from investigating corruption cases that occurred in the past, nor protect its cadres and figures who were involved in such cases. All Golkar cadres and figures must take account individually for any wrongdoings they committed in the past," he said.

Asked to comment on Marzuki's failure to prosecute all those involved in corruption cases and human rights abuses in the past, Slamet said the President should bear in mind that Marzuki is part of his government and a member of his cabinet.

"If Marzuki's performance is considered unsatisfactory, there must be something wrong with the government and it should not be related to Golkar. For example, the delayed prosecution of three conglomerates is not Marzuki's policy, but Gus Dur's decision," he said. (byg/rms)