Juwono calls for political solution to Soeharto case

Juwono calls for political solution to Soeharto case

JAKARTA (JP): Political observer Juwono Sudarsono proposed on
Monday a political settlement to resolve the fate of former
president Soeharto once and for all, and so allow the nation to
move forward.

Juwono, a scholar who served as Indonesia's first civilian
minister of defense until August, proposed that the People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR) should distinguish between Soeharto
as a statesman and Soeharto as a patriarch who abused his power
during his 32-year tenure.

The first scenario would recognize Soeharto's contribution to
the nation's progress while the second would allow the country to
seize by force the assets of the former first family, he said.

"If we fail to resolve the fate of Soeharto by the time of the
next MPR session (in August), this issue will go on for years,"
Juwono told The Jakarta Post.

"We have already wasted so much energy and effort on Soeharto.
We need to move forward with a clean slate," said Juwono, who has
now returned to teaching political science at the University of
Indonesia.

He added that the proposal would spare the aging Soeharto from
having to go to jail because he would then be recognized as a
statesman. This privilege, however, would not extend to members
of his family, he added.

The government of President Abdurrahman Wahid has failed in
its attempts to pin the former tyrant with any of the crimes he
was alleged to have committed during his tenure.

The first attempt to bring him to court in August following
months of protracted investigations failed when the judges ruled
that he was too ill to appear in court to answer charges of
corruption. The Jakarta high court, however, has overturned the
ruling and said that the trial must proceed. Soeharto's lawyers
have now appealed against that decision to the Supreme Court.

The effort to bring Soeharto to court has failed in spite of
President Abdurrahman's repeated promises to pardon Soeharto as
soon as the court had convicted him.

The government has also been after the former first family and
last month won a Supreme Court case against Soeharto's youngest
son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra. Tommy, however, disappeared
prior to beginning his 18-month jail term.

Juwono said that unless the nation determined the fate of
Soeharto quickly, then many other cases of political crimes and
human rights abuses would not be resolved as they would
eventually be linked to the former head of state.

"We owe it to him, to differentiate between him as a statesman
and him as head of a family who abused power," said Juwono, who
served under three presidents, namely Soeharto, B.J. Habibie, and
Abdurrahman, albeit briefly in each case. (emb)