Pressure mounts on Haryanto to resign
Pressure mounts on Haryanto to resign
JAKARTA (JP): The pressure on Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto to resign has mounted in the wake of allegations of financial irregularities, nepotism and favoritism in his ministry.
Demands are now being made that the Attorney General's office initiate an inquiry into the allegations, which were reported to President Soeharto by Inspector General for Development Kentot Harseno.
However, copies of Harseno's three reports to the President fell into the hands of the media and various politicians last week.
Many are now demanding his resignation in order to facilitate the Attorney General's investigation.
"To ensure a fair investigation process, we feel Haryanto Dhanutirto should resign," the International Non-governmental Forum of Indonesian Development said in a statement.
"The success of national development can only be achieved through the practice of good governance," said a statement signed by the forum's deputies Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara and Asmara Nababan.
The Association of Moslem Students has also called on President Soeharto to discipline the minister.
Several members of the House of Representatives, including Mohammad Mansur and A.M. Saefuddin, have also called for his resignation.
"If he doesn't resign he will bring shame to the administration and the Association of Indonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI)," Saefuddin told the Merdeka daily. Saefuddin and Haryanto were recently appointed to the new ICMI board.
A legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party, Aberson Marle Sihaloho, told The Post on Saturday that the Constitution allows a political party to demand that the President remove a minister.
Aberson, who sits on the commission in charge of the state budget, said the procedures include convening a special session of the House of Representatives to discuss the alleged scandal.
Haryanto on Saturday declined to comment directly on the accusations, saying that he is due to report to Vice President Try Sutrisno again later this week.
Try has been assigned by Soeharto to investigate the matter, which was first brought to the President's attention in October. Haryanto confirmed that he had met with Try on at least two occasions to discuss the affair.
Lawyer Luhut Pangaribuan, who heads the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, said the public is waiting for the Attorney General to make good on a statement made earlier this year that the government will hunt down the funds embezzled from state coffers.
"If the case is not brought to court, people will think that the state funds were not lost to wily corruptors, but to the Attorney General's office which did not do its job properly," Luhut said.
"Remember, the government is increasingly strict now about unaccounted-for funds," he added.
Luhut pressed the House of Representatives to pursue the matter with greater vigor and to not drop the matter simply because they are bound by "procedures".
An earlier House plan to hold a hearing with Harseno was dropped because the inspector general is answerable to the President and not the legislature.
"If citizens can step into the House for a public hearing, then civil servants should be able to do that too," Luhut said.
He said an apology and promise of self-introspection from Haryanto will not suffice.
"The legal process must begin for the sake of the government's own credibility," Luhut said.
If the case is not brought to court we risk further demoralization of the cabinet, he said. The public will also question the principle of equality before the law. (anr)