Probe into Soeharto's wealth on the agenda

JAKARTA (JP): A Special Session commission assigned to issue a decree on clean governance will on Friday continue to debate whether provision for an investigation into former president Soeharto should be included in a separate decree.

On Thursday, the United Development Party (PPP) faction in the People's Consultative Assembly insisted that a separate decree was necessary, a proposal rejected by other factions, which said that any order for an investigation should be included in the decree on clean governance. The factions finally agreed to defer making a decision until Friday.

The dominant factions, Golkar and the Armed Forces (ABRI), had reiterated their earlier view to Commission C that the draft decree on clean governance was sufficient to give the government the necessary clout to investigate corruption.

"There is no need to name anyone," Fachry Ali, a researcher and Golkar faction member, said. He was referring to the draft decree which stipulates a proportional share of power among all state institutions, including the People's Consultative Assembly and the House of Representatives, to prevent a centralization of power which allowed corruption, collusion and nepotism.

Commission C was assigned to deliberate the draft decree on development reform guidelines to replace the State Policy Guidelines adopted in the March 1998 General Session. The guidelines were to have applied until 2003.

United Development Party's (PPP) Tosari Wijaya maintained that a separate decree "is really needed to give the government full authority to investigate the cases" of alleged corruption by the former president, his family and cronies.

PPP had succeeded in bringing the subject of a draft decree on an investigation into Soeharto's wealth before the commission, although it lost in voting in the Assembly's Working Committee which prepared all drafts for the session.

The draft decree on clean governance was issued in place of PPP's proposed draft. The view that the Assembly should adopt a decree on investigating Soeharto is shared by many.

This demand followed criticism of a government-assigned team chaired by Attorney General Andi Muhammad Ghalib which has been considered too slow in its inquiry into the former ruler.

The Ciganjur Declaration on Tuesday signed by four popular figures -- Abdurrahman Wahid, Megawati Soekarnoputri, Amien Rais and Sultan Hamengkubuwono X -- also expressed this view.

On Tuesday, Didik J. Rachbini, an economist with the Societal Group in the Assembly, said the current draft decree on politics in a democratic economy could be used to "minimize businesses links to the Soeharto family and cronies".

This draft was being deliberated by Commission D. (imn/anr)