Ministers warned of nepotism

JAKARTA (JP): In an effort to create clean governance, President Megawati Soekarnoputri has told ministers and director generals in all ministries not to award any projects to or bestow any unlawful benefits on her children and other family members.

Megawati's husband Taufik Kiemas revealed at a meeting with the Editors Club on Wednesday night that the President would blame the ministers if she found any member of her family receiving favors.

"If later it is found out that any of the children have benefited from any project, or anything else, it will be the minister who will bear the blame," he said at the gathering.

Taufik, himself a businessman, has vowed never to avail of any unlawful advantages in his business arising from the elevation of his wife.

Following her appointment as president, Megawati summoned all her family members, including children, children-in-law and her children's parents-in-law, and told them not to use her presidency to obtain unlawful benefits.

Megawati told the members of her family that she did not want to be forced out of office because of corruption allegations. She would rather be put out of office for political reasons.

Megawati's move is considered important for keeping the first family free from corruption, as one of her children's parents-in- law has reportedly been appointed as a commissioner of a Singapore-based company that is owned by a noted local tycoon.

On Wednesday, when swearing in new Attorney General Muhammad Abdurrachman, or M.A. Rachman as he is familiarly known, Megawati reiterated that the new appointee must work hard to help create a clean government.

"I hope that the new official heeds the public's desire for better law enforcement, and helps to create clean and reputable government," Megawati said during her off-the-cuff speech.

Megawati also told Rachman to put the Attorney General's Office in order and mend its the tarnished image.

Rachman after the ceremony said that he would focus on reforming the Attorney General's Office, and concentrate on handling the corruption and human rights cases which had been left pending by the late attorney general Baharuddin Lopa.

Rachman's appointment as the new attorney general, however, received a skeptical response from observers, but received a thumbs-up from his predecessors and the Golkar Party.

Noted lawyer and rights activist Todung Mulya Lubis said that Rachman had no clear track record to prove his integrity.

"Rachman's appointment is a surprise because we practically know nothing about him. We only know that he led the joint team to investigate the East Timor human rights cases, but until now we haven't heard any more about it," he told The Jakarta Post.

Rachman, according to Todung, is not an ideal choice as his appointment could well be the result of a political compromise among the members of the political elite.

Sharing Todung's argument, another human rights activist, Hendardi, contended that because Rachman was an insider, his latest position being that of a specialist, Rachman would not be able to effectively bring order to the Attorney General's Office because he was part of the corrupt system.

"Believe me, he will find it impossible to combat corruption within the office, which should be done before he handles the major cases such as human rights abuses and corruption involving big names," said Teten Masduki, coordinator of Indonesian Corruption Watch.

However, both Teten and Todung agreed that Rachman deserved a chance to prove his abilities.

It is no secret that Rachman has several gray areas in his track record, especially regarding human rights cases. Several major human rights cases, such as those from the East Timor debacle, seemed to be going nowhere under his direction.

Meanwhile, Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung applauded Rachman's appointment as attorney general saying that as a career prosecutor, Rachman deserved the position.

"We believe that he has a good track record and will succeed in his job," Akbar said.

Former attorneys general Sudjono C. Atmonegoro and Singgih also supported Rachman, saying that he would help uphold the independence of the Attorney General's Office.

Caretaker attorney general Soeparman, who handed over his duties to Rachman on Wednesday afternoon, also praised Megawati's choice and expressed confidence that Rachman would have the courage to settle all major corruption and human rights cases.

Ismudjoko, a former deputy attorney general, described his old colleague Rachman as a low-profile, hard working and humorous fellow. (dja/bby/pan)