'Restructure' ownership of Soeharto firms
JAKARTA (JP): Economic analyst Laksamana Sukardi rejected on Friday the idea of 'killing' businesses owned by former president Soeharto's family and cronies, saying the businesses should be maintained given their valuable assets.
However, he said ownership of the companies should be restructured to eliminate traces of corruption, collusion and nepotism.
"Don't kill their businesses. They have workers. They have infrastructure and export networks. They also have to negotiate with their own customers.
"Killing their business means only vengeance, which we don't want to do," Laksamana told The Jakarta Post.
Laksamana said as part of the restructuring, the government should take over shares of Soeharto's children and cronies before selling them to the Indonesian people, pension funds or foreign buyers.
Laksamana, an economic advisor to chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) Megawati Soekarnoputri, said Megawati supported his view on the issue.
Several reformists have called on the government to restrict any attempts by Soeharto's family and cronies to further develop their businesses. The observers argue that such a stance would comprise part of the punitive measures for the corruption, collusion and nepotism they conducted during Soeharto's era.
Teten Masduki, an executive of the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), earlier called on state oil and gas company Pertamina to refrain from granting PT McDermott Indonesia -- a joint venture between the U.S. company McDermott and Soeharto's crony Mohammad Bob Hasan -- the contract for the construction of the giant underwater pipeline to channel natural gas from west of Natuna Island to Singapore.
McDermott won the US$335 million contract in competitive bidding held by the consortium, but Pertamina has yet to approve the result.
"Let Bob Hasan do business with private companies but don't give any more government projects to him, unless he is willing to return to the government the money he has illegally collected through corrupt, collusive and nepotistic practices," Teten said.
Thus far, under President B.J. Habibie's leadership, enterprises controlled by the Soeharto family and associates remain intact. But several analysts believe anti-Soeharto parties will place increased pressure on the viability of these businesses if they win the elections.
Laksamana said PDI Perjuangan would seek to preserve the companies but that restructuring of the companies's ownership was necessary.
Laksamana proposed the establishment of a special independent commission with the task of examining all cases of corruption to find viable solutions.
"The corruption issue is very delicate, because it involves almost all companies. Instead of settling the problems case by case, we'd be better setting up an institution which is independent and won't arbitrarily decide on each case," he said. (jsk)