President unmoved by criticism of Sofyan

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)