Petisi 50 calls Bapindo scandal a political crime

Petisi 50 calls Bapindo scandal a political crime

JAKARTA (JP): The scandal at Bank Pembangunan Indonesia
(Bapindo) should be treated as a political crime because it
involved abuses of power, leading critics of the government say.

The Petisi 50, an organization which includes former
government and military officials, in a statement yesterday also
criticized the House of Representatives (DPR) for allowing the
Attorney General's office to take over the case and for failing
to grasp its larger political implications.

"This is a political crime because it involved abuses of
power, it is related to the way power is held, and the very
credibility of the administration which has proclaimed to seek
clean government," read the statement issued yesterday during the
group's get together at the home of former Jakarta governor Ali
Sadikin.

This is the first time that the group has addressed the
scandal since it became public in January with the first
disclosure at the DPR.

What began as a potentially explosive political issue, the Rp
1.3 trillion ($620 million) scandal became strictly a legal
matter once the Attorney General's office took over the
initiative from the House.

The government is now building its case against four suspects
-- businessman Eddy Tansil and three Bapindo directors -- in the
scandal based on the 1971 anti-corruption law.

A number of senior government officials implicated in the
scandal have not yet been arrested although they have been
questioned by government investigators.

One of them is Sudomo, the chairman of the Supreme Advisory
Council who wrote several letters of reference to Bapindo in
support of Tansil's loan applications. Sudomo has resisted calls
for his resignation or that he take a leave of absence to
facilitate the official investigation.

"If I were the president, I'd fire Sudomo," Sadikin said of
the retired navy admiral who also happens to be his next door
neighbor on Jl. Borobudur in Central Jakarta. "As a matter of
honor, he should resign."

Nice things

Sadikin, a former marine lieutenant general, had some nice
things to say about Sudomo, who was also responsible for slapping
the overseas travel ban against Petisi 50 members in the 1980s.

"He likes to help, but he often goes beyond the limit. He's
definitely a hard worker," Sadikin said. "Maybe he has been an
official for too long."

The Petisi 50 blamed the current rigid political system, which
prevents effective control of the government by the people, for
allowing the Bapindo scandal to occur.

"Power tends to corrupt, and in reality, corruption can occur
in various forms such as bribery, extortion, collusion and
nepotism," their statement said.

"The case happened because the mechanism of people's
sovereignty does not work. The powerholder has eliminated the
people's controlling power through the current political system."

Sadikin also urged the DPR to probe allegations that 49
companies have run up similarly massive debts with government
banks.

The Petisi 50 statement criticized President Soeharto for
going overboard with the debate about the leadership succession
in 1998 instead of addressing the Bapindo scandal.

Sadikin related that Soeharto has addressed the succession
issue on nine separate occasions in the last two months.

The statement said the succession issue must be seen from the
perspective of people's sovereignty and people should therefore
have the liberty to discuss it.

The ruling political group Golkar has refrained from joining
in the debate, saying that the matter should be discussed closer
to the next meeting of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR),
which elects the president, in 1998.

Among those attending the meeting at Sadikin's house were
Petisi 50 members Siner Key Timu, Hugeng Imam Santoso, Suyitno
Sukirno, Wachdiat Sukardi, A.M Fatwa, Rajab Ranggasoli and Azis
Saleh. H.R. Dharsono, a former army general and a staunch critic
of the president, was also present. (prs)