President's political foes face investigation

JAKARTA (JP): New Attorney General Baharuddin Lopa confirmed on Wednesday he would investigate corruption allegations against Golkar Party chairman Akbar Tandjung and senior Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) member Arifin Panigoro.

Speaking to reporters after attending the induction of three new ministers at the State Palace, Lopa contended the investigations were aimed at enforcing the law and had nothing to do with the role of the two politicians in endorsing the planned special session of the People's Consultative Assembly in August.

Despite his claim, Lopa expressed hope the investigations would be completed before Aug. 1, when the Assembly is scheduled to begin possible impeachment proceedings against President Abdurrahman Wahid.

"There is no connection with the special session. This is solely a matter of law enforcement," the attorney general said.

Lopa was minister of justice and human rights before replacing Marzuki Darusman, who is a Golkar Party deputy chairman, as attorney general earlier this month.

According to Lopa, the President, in his capacity as the head of state, has approved the questioning of his two political rivals, as required by law. Abdurrahman reportedly signed the approval letter for the investigations on Tuesday.

Lopa refused to discuss the allegations against Akbar and Arifin. "I cannot provide you any details. I still cannot answer your questions," he replied when asked about the cases.

Akbar was questioned by the police in April over a land dispute with his nephew.

Earlier on Wednesday, Lopa's deputy for special crimes, Fachri Nasution, said his office had sent the President's official approval for the investigations to the House of Representatives.

"The copy of the approval letter has been sent to the House, but we have yet to summon them (Akbar and Arifin). Also, there is still no schedule for the investigations," Fachri said.

Akbar, who is also the speaker of the House, said he had been accused of siphoning Rp 90 billion from the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) for his party's campaign prior to the 1999 general election.

Unable to hide his outrage, Akbar claimed the investigation was politically motivated.

He warned that Lopa's actions would receive serious attention from the House, and contended that some major political parties were pushing for an expedited special session of the Assembly in response to the investigations.

"It (the probe) is very likely related to the special session, because the investigation is being conducted now while this Bulog allegation came out several months ago," Akbar said.

He said he had hired top lawyers Adnan Buyung Nasution, Mohammad Assegaf, O.C. Kaligis, Ruhut Sitompul and Hotma Sitompul to represent him in this matter.

"I am ready to deal with it," he said.

The Supreme Court is currently looking into allegations that the Golkar Party violated Law No. 2/1999, which stipulates that a political party is not allowed to receive personal donations exceeding Rp 15 million or donations from organizations or private companies in excess of Rp 150 million.

Meanwhile, oilman Arifin, who is also the PDI Perjuangan faction leader in the House, was also clearly irritated by these latest moves. He insisted Lopa had simply reopened an old case that had already been used against him by then president B.J. Habibie's government in 1999.

In July 1999, the South Jakarta District Court cleared Arifin of any wrongdoing in the issuance of Rp 1.8 trillion in promissory notes in his capacity as the president commissioner of oil company PT Medco Central Asia, a subsidiary of the Medco Group.

"This is political terrorism and simply an attempt to avoid the Assembly special session. This is a crude move," Arifin said.

Corruption charges were earlier handed down to another Golkar Party figure, Ginandjar Kartasamita, who is also a former minister of mines and energy.

Noted lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis criticized the apparent abuse of the law for political interests, which was a common practice during the New Order regime of former president Soeharto. (dja/bby/02/ylt/prb)