Like parrots, our leaders heap praise on Soeharto

Kornelius Purba, The Jakarta Post

My hands were clasped at waist level in a submissive, defensive posture, as one of Soeharto's most feared aides told me in a hotel in Cairo that Soeharto was very angry with me for misquoting the then-president in saying that he was ready to end his 32-year tenure.

"It's not my fault Pak," I said desperately, trembling.

It was still morning at that time, May 13, 1998, when CNN quoted Reuters as reporting that Soeharto was about to step down. The news agency itself wrongly identified its source, a major national newspaper, as The Jakarta Post.

One day earlier, massive riots had hit Jakarta following the killing of four Trisakti University students. At that time Soeharto was in Cairo attending a summit of 15 developing countries. Soeharto finally quit on May 21.

When Soeharto celebrated his 77th birthday on June 8, about three weeks after his resignation, this newspaper reported, "Less than a month ago, 202 million Indonesian people called him president, but now only his trained parrot at home -- screeching 'Good morning Bapak President' -- does." As Soeharto was no longer in power, the reporter who wrote about the parrot had no need to place his hands over his abdomen.

The parrot died some years later -- according to a Soeharto aide, the bird suffered a stroke -- but the bird should be very pleased with itself and the example it set. All of his boss's four successors -- B.J. Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid, Megawati Soekarnoputri up to the present Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono -- have all dutifully followed the parrot's example. In fact, they treated the nation's second president even better than the bird.

All of them were very reluctant to force him into court to face corruption and human rights abuse allegations. All of them apparently believed -- at least in public -- that Soeharto would never recover from his sickness, which was used by the courts as a reason not to start his trials. It is as if all the president's after Soeharto did not want to believe that maybe some day he might get better, thus dispensing with periodical medical check- ups to ascertain whether he was still sick.

Like or not, however, it was probably a pragmatic decision taken in their own interests. None these four leaders want to be aggravated by issues of corruption and abuse of power when they are no longer in their position.

It is advisable that anyone wanting to bring Soeharto to justice learn from the experience of Andi M. Ghalib, an attorney general in Habibie's Cabinet. While he was visiting Switzerland and Austria ostensibly hunting for Soeharto's money in June 1999, Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) made the astounding revelation that Ghalib and his wife had received about Rp 1.8 billion in deposits from problematic conglomerates. He lost his Cabinet job.

Soeharto himself has denied all allegations. He even swore that he did not have one cent in an overseas bank. (Perhaps it was difficult to find a bank that would accept such a small deposit). The former first family now live in peace and contentment in their fortified compound in leafy Menteng.

Soeharto has just got out of the hospital, and he will turn 84 next month. Dare we disturb his peaceful life? After seven years, more and more people are lining up to say nice things about him. They recall our high economic growth during his rule. Sure, there was corruption and his greedy children, but people also miss the glamorous development of the 1980s and early 1990s. Many people blamed his children, rather than Soeharto himself, as the main cause of the economic collapse in 1997.

Should the nation forgive him without first prosecuting him in a court of law? Some people have suggested that he should apologize to the nation for his past wrongdoings.

A colleague suggested some wisdom: "The verdict of history has already been written about him. Such a verdict is much more painful to him and his family compared to formal court verdicts."

It is merely false hope to expect the current government to bring this man to justice. Even students have now lost their appetite for protesting against him, meaning Soeharto can continue to live out his peaceful existence.

So, just what are we supposed to do with this old man?