No reason for surprise

No reason for surprise

President Abdurrahman Wahid, according to his spokesman Wimar
Witoelar, wants to draw a thick line between the (Soeharto's) New
Order regime's tradition and that of his own. But the
(Abdurrahman Wahid) government has not only totally inherited its
culture and methods, but its players as well?

People remember how cronies the likes of Prajogo Pangestu,
Marimutu Sinivasan and Sjamsul Nursalim nurtured close relations
with the Cendana (Soeharto) family in order to advance their
businesses -- which is also what happened when they received
liquidity aid from Bank Indonesia, a matter that should have been
investigated to make sure that they won't default on their debt?
Now those three conglomerates are receiving favors from the
President, who wants the government's attorney's to delay
investigating those debts, who knows at what compensation.

If the government leadership is taking so lenient an attitude
towards irregularities, no one will be surprised if the
bureaucracy continues to engage in deviant practices and
disregards the law in implementing the state budget.

-- Republika, Jakarta