Investigators still absent at Cendana, only flowers arrive
JAKARTA (JP): As of Sunday there were no signs that the Attorney General-led team investigating the wealth of former president Soeharto had met him at his residence.
Soeharto's residence on Jl. Cendana in Central Jakarta was quiet and "no entry" signs were posted at both ends of the street, Antara reported.
As journalists on the street watched out for a possible visit from Attorney General Andi Muhammad Ghalib, a florist's vehicle arrived to deliver bouquets of orchids and roses for Soeharto and his eldest daughter, Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, around 3:50 p.m.
"May you stay steadfast and strong," read the message on the bouquets sent by the family of Taufik and Rini from Cibubur in East Jakarta.
President B.J. Habibie assigned Ghalib to chair the team investigating the former president's wealth last week. Government officials have said that Soeharto would be questioned "as soon as possible" at his residence, at whatever time the former president set.
On Saturday, Kompas quoted Hardiyanti as saying that the family was prepared for the investigation, but she appealed to people not to make their own judgments.
"If we are not in the wrong, as citizens of this country we have a right to legal protection," she said.
Last week, Minister of Justice Muladi said private parties would be welcome to give any information they had on Soeharto's wealth to the investigation team. He cited individuals "like George Aditjondro", an Australia-based scholar who has conducted extensive research into the Indonesian political elite's wealth, including that of the former president.
Meanwhile in a discussion on corruption held on Friday, observers said the creation of a democratic political system along with the empowerment of civil society were key factors to fighting rampant corruption in the country.
Former Cabinet minister Emil Salim said the overconcentration of power without any control has provided a favorable environment for corruption to flourish.
"A new political system based on free and honest elections is a prerequisite to wipe out corruption," Emil, who leads the Civil Society Movement (Gema Madani), said at the University of Indonesia in Depok, West Java. Equally important are freedom of association and a free press, he added.
The talks, jointly hosted by the university and Transparency International (TI), among others also featured TI Australia chief executive Peter Rooke and sociologist Sayed Hussein Alatas from the National University of Malaysia.
Hussein Alatas stressed that apart from the rule of law, what was important was "the rule of values." He also said the public should be made to realize the importance of upholding the law. The author of The Sociology of Corruption said people should check the "morality" of ruling officials to determine whether they really intended to eradicate corruption.
Peter Rooke cited an Asian Development Bank (ADB) directive which quantifies the direct costs of corruption.
He said the ADB estimated that corruption could add between 20 percent and 100 percent to the cost of goods and services in several Asian countries; it could cost governments as much as 50 percent of their tax revenues; and that losses due to corruption could add up to more than a country's foreign debt.
Emil, an economist, also said that the market economy must be allowed to function, adding that extensive regulations that distorted its proper functioning must not be tolerated.
However, he said the most difficult and most important endeavor was to stamp out corruption by preventing conflicts of interest from arising.
He said most corrupt practices stemmed from a blurring of the function and responsibility of state and society. He cited the central bank, which in addition to its state duties holds large investments in private banks. He also pointed to director- generals of government departments who sit on the board of directors of private sector companies and presidential appointees to the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), whose job is to call the president to account. (byg)