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.