Malaysian paper slams Soeharto

Malaysian paper slams Soeharto

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): A Malaysian newspaper said yesterday that
former Indonesian President Soeharto had made a big mistake by
not adopting an affirmative action policy like Malaysia's to
spread his nation's wealth to ethnic Indonesians.

Mingguan Malaysia, one of Malaysia's largest Sunday
newspapers, said ethnic Indonesians account for 90 percent of the
population but control only 10 percent of Indonesia's wealth.

Because Soeharto had no affirmative action policy to help
them, the minority Chinese and Soeharto's own cronies controlled
the Indonesian economy, it said.

This led to many Indonesians migrating to Malaysia to find
work as farmers and laborers, it added.

Commenting on Soeharto's resignation last Thursday after 32
years in power, the paper also criticized the Indonesian
Parliament for being a mere tool of Soeharto and for not telling
him the truth.