Hartono to be tough on corrupt subordinates

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Home Affairs R. Hartono threatened to dismiss governors or regents found to have greased their way into office, Antara reported yesterday.

"If investigations and the courts find (such officials were) involved in bribery, I would dismiss them," Hartono told reporters at his office.

Hartono was commenting on an investigation of bribery allegations over the election of the current governor of West Sumatra.

Reports allege that former governor Hasan Basri Durin, now a member of the People's Consultative Assembly, paid each of the 45 members of the provincial legislative council Rp 20 million (US$2,500) to elect Muchlis Ibrahim, Durin's deputy, to the governor's post.

It was also reported that a prominent local businessman paid the council members to elect a different candidate, Mannas K. Sulaiman. Gatra magazine said council members had denied the allegations, while Durin had claimed that his distribution of money was "valid" because it was regulated in the provincial budget.

The provincial prosecutors office is still investigating the case.

Muchlis Ibrahim was elected in December.

Hartono said yesterday he was still waiting for the result of the investigation into the allegations.

This year, a number of provinces will hold gubernatorial elections, including Aceh, North Sumatra, Riau, South Sumatra, West Java, Central Java, East Java, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara and East Kalimantan.

Provincial governors are members of the Civil Service Corps with modest salaries, but their posts are often associated with lucrative business opportunities.

Bowing to public pressure for a clean government, President Soeharto recently ordered ministers and high-ranking officials to inventory their personal wealth. Ministers must submit their list to President Soeharto, while governors must direct theirs to the minister of home affairs.

Soeharto also urged ministers to follow his example of donating his first year's salary to a campaign helping people badly affected by the monetary crisis.

There is, however, no stipulation that the personal wealth lists be made public. In an interview last month, Hartono scoffed at the suggestion that the public be told about public officials' wealth.

"How could that be? Would you be willing, if told, to go naked in public? Everyone has the right to secrecy and privacy. Don't make demands like (those) made in the dark ages," Hartono told reporters. (swe)