President unmoved by criticism of Sofyan

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid said accusations of corruption leveled against businessmen Sofyan Wanandi and Aburizal Bakrie must be proven in the courts before the men would be asked to resign from the National Business Development Council.

Answering a question following Friday prayer at Al-Masthuriyah Islamic boarding school at Tipar in Sukabumi, West Java, Abdurrahman said he would not remove the businessmen from the council based on accusations.

"That's the business of the courts. If they are found guilty, they would be asked to resign," he was quoted by Antara news agency as saying.

Abdurrahman defied the critics and named ethnic Chinese businessman Sofyan Wanandi of the Gemala Group to head the newly formed National Business Development Council on Dec. 18.

He appointed indigenous businessmen Aburizal Bakrie of the Bakrie Group and Arifin Panigoro of the Medco Group Sofyan's deputies.

The business council has been the focus of criticism even before its inception, and the naming of Sofyan as chairman met with particularly harsh criticism from various quarters.

During the administration of former president B.J. Habibie, Sofyan was accused of misusing credit facilities totaling US$16 million which his companies obtained from state Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Bank Bumi Daya and Bank Negara Indonesia.

He denied the allegations and accused the Habibie administration of fabricating the charges for political reasons.

Sofyan failed to answer a series of summonses from the Attorney General's Office as he was living in the United States, officially for medical reasons. He was then declared a fugitive and the Habibie government sought Interpol's assistance in his arrest.

Sofyan later stated publicly that the reason he stayed out of Indonesia was that he feared he would not receive a fair trial in the country.

Sofyan returned to Indonesia on Oct. 22, two days after the election of President Abdurrahman. And on Nov. 30, the Attorney General's Office dropped the charges against Sofyan, saying it had no proof to support the allegations against him.

The President said he decided to recruit Sofyan to head the prestigious business council because the latter was in a position to woo Chinese-Indonesian businessmen back to the country.

Abdurrahman said the council's main task was to assist him in creating as many jobs as possible in a short period.

Sofyan has said the council's target was to help create one million new jobs during the first year of its existence.

The President said of this goal: "If they cannot accomplish it, we will fire them. Those who can help us, we will use them. If (they) cannot, we will fire them."

The President noted that Sofyan, Aburizal and businessman Marimutu Sinivasan were the victims of "trial by the press".

"I know there has been trial by the press. People who do not know the problem then join the fray and talk," he said.

Aburizal is chairman of the Bakrie Group, the fourth largest debtor under the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency. The Attorney General's Office has not pursued legal action against Aburizal in relation to his business group's debt of over $500 million.

Sinivasan, chairman of the Texmaco Group, has been named a suspect by the Attorney General's Office in a $1.35 billion loan scandal at several state banks. (rid)