Probing Soeharto's wealth

Probing Soeharto's wealth

At last President B.J. Habibie is meeting the public's demand
for an investigation into former president Soeharto's wealth. A
commission is to be formed for this particular purpose shortly.
This is a good beginning even though we still have to see who
will be selected to sit in the commission and how large the scope
of the commission's duties will be.

Members of the commission must be personalities whose
integrity is undisputed or at least whose records are not stained
by corrupt, collusive and nepotistic practices during the period
Soeharto was in power. We are convinced that clean and upstanding
individuals can still be found, whether among our economists,
judges, public prosecutors, police officers or even our
bureaucrats.

This must be said because at present the perception exists
that Habibie tends to favor people he likes when filling official
posts. The replacement of the attorney general and the
appointment of Billy Joedono to the post of chairman of the State
Audit Board (Bapeka) are cases in point that raise doubts about
Habibie's sincerity. We even hope that foreign consultants such
as Kroll Associates will be assigned to assist the commission.
Kroll's has extensive experience in this matter and enjoys a good
international reputation and would therefore considerably
increase the commission's efficacy.

Soeharto, his family, government officials and whoever else
may be affected in the process will have to accept the reality
that this is what the public wants and that this has nothing to
do with our tradition of respecting our elders. On the contrary,
the enaction of a proper legal process would give Soeharto the
chance to defend himself.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta