How fares Soeharto?

As the Dutch say, hoge bomen vangen veel wind (tall trees catch much wind). During the 32 years that Soeharto was president of Indonesia, even the slightest sign of illness was enough to set off rumors of a power struggle within the political elite and rattle the market.

Those years are over, of course. But even after his fall from power in May last year, it cannot be denied that Indonesia's former second president continues to exert a considerable influence, at least in certain segments of our community. How else to explain the persistent speculation circulating at present that the former strongman is still pulling strings behind the scene to ensure the new government that will emerge after the November presidential elections will be favorably inclined toward protecting him and his clan's interests?

For that reason there is no cause to feel either shocked, surprised or resentful -- depending on the kind of emotional relationship one has with the ex-president -- about the seemingly nosy attitude the media has been displaying around the Pertamina Hospital sickroom and facilities where Soeharto is being treated after a mild stroke he is said to have suffered last Tuesday.

Soeharto is the former chief executive of Southeast Asia's biggest country and the fourth most populous in the world. He is the man who, during his long tenure, managed, among other things, to raise the standard of life for millions of Indonesians, even if much of that economic progress later turned out to be hollow in many important sectors due to rampant power abuse and mismanagement.

Soeharto, at the same time, is the man who, through his iron- fisted rule, fashioned the executive branch of government into a power apparatus so overbearing, it turned the legislative and judiciary branches, together with the military, into mere subordinate extensions of the state's executive powers. Soeharto is the man who effectively dealt a death blow to democracy after his predecessor, Sukarno, stunted its functioning by his introduction of "guided democracy". Soeharto, in other words, was the main architect of much of what was both good and bad in this country's most recent past.

At this moment, even in his present impaired condition -- or perhaps because of it -- Soeharto continues to draw the attention of millions of Indonesians. For one thing, the legal process of going after his and his family's alleged personal wealth with which his successor, B.J. Habibie, is burdened by legislative order, has barely started and is now dangling in uncertainty. For another, many Indonesians are watching with interest what Soeharto's illness and possible permanent disability could have on the process of electing a new president for the country in November.

Given the huge impact Soeharto's legacy still has on the lives of so many Indonesians, it would be needless to say the public has a right to be accurately informed of the former president's condition. Under these circumstances, Indonesians think with envy of how most modern democratic countries release reliable information to the public in times such as these.

Surely, especially considering the precarious times in which Indonesians are living at present, it is better -- if worse comes to worse -- to have our medical authorities handle the task of informing the public in the same way American doctors did during President Reagan's illness or President Eisenhower's demise, rather than to shroud Soeharto in the same kind of secrecy Russian doctors did with Stalin at the time of the Soviet leader's death.

One more suggestion to conclude this commentary: It would help if somebody in the family could tell Soeharto's legal advisors to stop issuing medical statements and leave this particular task to the medical authorities in charge. Too much confusion has already been caused by one and all giving out contrary statements about the ex-president's condition.