Habibie's misdemeanors 'more stories' than Clinton's

Habibie's misdemeanors 'more stories' than Clinton's

The supposed recording of a telephone conversation between
President B.J. Habibie and the attorney general has drawn a mixed
response, with Habibie's loyalists demanding an investigation and
the pro-democracy activists deploring the content of the
conversation. Dr. H.S. Dillon of the National Commission on Human
Rights believes the President should be impeached.

Question: What do you make of the furor over the tapping of
the telephone conversation between President Habibie and Attorney
General Ghalib?

Dillon: This could be a great setback for our march towards
democratization. If the tape is authentic, the content means that
Habibie and his government have been fooling the Indonesian
people by posturing as reformers. The transcript reveals Habibie
has committed at least two grave misdemeanors: abuse of the
presidential office to eliminate political opponents ahead of the
elections in directing Ghalib to persecute Panigoro and Wanandi,
and obstruction of justice in the case of (the investigation into
former) president Soeharto.

Q: How does this stand legally, and what of the tapping itself?

D: This is an oral presidential directive concerning the conduct
of legal inquiry. As such, it lies in the public domain. Were it
intelligence measures, concerning security of the country, then
it would be classified as confidential. Or, if he were calling
his wife concerning his heart condition, then the tapping and its
subsequent public disclosure would comprise an invasion of
privacy.

Legally, the grave misdemeanors provide adequate grounds for
impeachment.

Q: What, impeach President Habibie? You can't be serious...

D: I am. Our 1945 Constitution confers large powers to the
executive, as does the United States constitution. However, the
Americans have their safeguards, to curtail abuse of the strong
presidential powers. These safeguards range all the way from
requiring senate confirmation of all presidential appointments to
impeachment.

All of us, including our children, were deluged with
pornographic details of President Clinton's dalliance with a
White House intern as many Americans pushed to impeach President
Clinton. For what? For perjury and obstruction of justice in the
attempt to cover up his sexual conduct.

President Habibie's directives are much more serious offenses,
more akin to Nixon's ordering of an illegal offensive against his
democratic opponents.

We all know that the untiring investigations of two reporters
into the Watergate break-ins led to President Nixon's
resignation.

Q: But impeachment is not in our Constitution...

D: Well, if we want to build a civil society on our Constitution,
then we should start looking for safeguards, too. This is the
right time. Our people are suffering so much now, because we, the
elite, opted to remain silent during Soeharto's regime. Because
we were all enjoying the rapid growth, we allowed Soeharto and
his family the excesses. Have we not learned our lesson? Do we
want another authoritarian regime? No, I think it is high time
that the Habibie, and all our people, learn that the Indonesian
president is not above the law.

Q: What of Habibie's allegations against retired Gen. Prabowo?

D: That is an entirely separate matter. Gen. Wiranto is best
placed to respond to such allegations. Or perhaps Gen. Feisal
Tanjung might volunteer, and tell the Indonesian people more
regarding army policy under former president Soeharto. For me,
far more intriguing is then vice-president Habibie's role during
the May 1998 riots. You must recall that president Soeharto was
abroad at that time, automatically making Habibie the Commander-
in-Chief. What were Habibie's directives then? Maybe retired Gen.
Ahmad Tirtosudiro could disclose his role then, primarily his
communications with Gen. Prabowo and Habibie at that critical
period.

After President Habibie is removed from office, maybe citizens
could file a class suit against him for failing to protect
property and life during the May riots.

Q: Where will all this lead to?

D: I don't know, but if President Habibie is already abusing his
powers to attack his opponents prior to the elections, I fear
that fair elections will continue to elude us.

In previous elections, it is rumored that powers of incumbency
allowed the executive to collect huge monies from the
conglomerates, the state-owned enterprises, State Logistic Agency
and state oil company Pertamina. Now that Habibie cronies are
manning all these positions, I fear a repeat of old times.

I would therefore call upon all proponents of civil society,
including the press and donors such as the World Bank and IMF, to
keep close tabs on all dealings of these institutions over the
next few months. Appointments (great sums are purported to be
involved) of directors of state enterprises, all contracts
(purchases, sales), work orders and the like should undergo
thorough scrutiny. If we allow state money to be used to finance
election campaigns, then we will have no one but ourselves to
blame if the elections do not lead to greater democracy.