Probing Soeharto Inc.

President B.J. Habibie's response to the nation-wide clamor for an investigation into the wealth of former president Soeharto, his family and cronies is not the kind of action demanded by the people. The investigation, as disclosed by Attorney General Soedjono C. Atmonegoro in a studiously worded statement to the mass media Monday, seems to be already defect by its design.

Although we welcome Soedjono's reaffirmation that rule of law and the presumption of innocence will be upheld during the investigation, we have doubts about the credibility of the investigators.

The investigation is being conducted only by officials from the attorney general's office in cooperation with related government offices. Missing from the investigation team are auditors from the Supreme Audit Agency and independent analysts with the technical competence needed to look into numerous documents and complicated financial reports to uncover the truth.

We are already all too familiar with the utterly poor record of the attorney general's office in pursuing corruption cases. It was, after all, subordinated to the wishes of Soeharto during his more than 32 years in power. Although domestic and international surveys have voted the Indonesian government as one of the most corrupt in the world, very few major graft cases have so far been brought to court.

The fact that Soedjono's statement did not mention anything about President Habibie himself also adds to our doubts. We get the impression that Habibie may escape the investigation altogether, though he is widely reported to have built a vast array of more than 80 businesses for his family. Many of these are based in Batam island, a special economic zone southeast of Singapore which has been under the virtual control of the Habibie family since the mid-1970s. So far, Habibie has yet to produce documented evidence belying media reports on what has been dubbed as "Habibie Inc.". He has, instead, always imposed the burden of proof on his critics.

It is most urgent to quickly establish the credibility of the investigation team from the outset to cool down the hurly-burly of the current movement against nepotism, corruption, collusion and crony capitalism. The fury directed against Soeharto, stoked by the almost daily reports uncovering his huge business empire, may run out of control to the degree that people may look to take the law into their own hands.

We cannot afford this kind of frenzy because it would literally affect just about every sector in the economy since it is being discovered that Soeharto's family and cronies are engaged in businesses ranging from satellite communications, power, toll roads and document printing to oil and gas, transportation, food, pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals and plantations, to name just a few.

An indiscriminate dismantling of the Soeharto business empire, which includes joint ventures with foreign investors from around the world and companies listed on stock exchanges, could become a disastrous distraction. We cannot afford such confusion, especially now when the nation badly needs to revive the business sector, attract new investments and woo ethnic Chinese businesspeople to bring their capital back home. The banking industry, already crippled under a huge burden of bad loans, could plunge into total collapse in view of the extensive exposure of the Soeharto business empire to private and state banks.

Soedjono did not elaborate on his investigation team's agenda, but in view of the explosive allegations of pervasive corruption against Soeharto, the attorney general should obviously give top priority to probing the Soeharto family's wealth to ascertain whether their riches -- estimated between US$20 billion and $40 billion -- were amassed through corruption and other forms of malfeasance. Next on the agenda should be the riches and businesses of President Habibie and his family. But most importantly, as we asserted at the outset, the investigation team must be perceived by the public as credible.

But to put the issue of nepotism, corruption, collusion and crony capitalism into the right perspective, the attorney general's investigation, which may take months or even years to complete, should be separated from more urgent measures dealing with the murky businesses which form a big chunk of Soeharto Inc. These measures should fall under the reform actions being taken by various ministries, state companies and local administrations to improve overall economic efficiency and create a level playing field for businesses.

The government and state companies could simply refer to existing laws and regulations in dealing with or abolishing monopolies, cartel-like businesses, rent-seeking practices, special favors and licenses, tax exemptions and contracts awarded without competitive bidding. After all, these kinds of shady deals are clearly market distortions which are supposed to be abolished under the reform package agreed to with the International Monetary Fund.