Raising funds for Golkar?

Raising funds for Golkar?

By helping out Dadang Sukandar and Winfried Simatupang -- two
Golkar functionaries -- to return Rp 32.5 billion to the state of
Indonesia, Akbar Tandjung's supporters are simply acknowledging
that the Rp 40 billion was clearly misused. Habibie said that he
ordered the funds from the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) to
serve the goal of poverty alleviation in some areas of Indonesia
in 1999.

Instead, it was used by well-known Golkar officials to support
their election campaign in 1999. It is difficult to believe --
even for uneducated Indonesians -- that Habibie did not know
about this as Golkar leader.

That misused money helped Golkar to promote itself and so get
a 20 percent share in the presidential election, supposedly to
benefit the candidacy of Habibie. Certainly, should the rules
allow it, the general elections committee should conclude that
Golkar did not act properly during these elections and thus could
certainly be excluded from campaigning again, and Golkar
legislators could maybe be expelled from the legislative bodies.

In any case, the return of the money does not mean that the
main guilty parties' leaders can be freed. The misuse of funds is
still there and the responsible persons must be punished. If not,
justice cannot be said to have been done in Indonesia today. No
change at all then with Soeharto's era, except that the hypocrisy
is much greater today.

YVAN MAGAIN

Tubize, Belgium