Rp 400m Bulog fund set for Habibie campaign
Rp 400m Bulog fund set for Habibie campaign
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Former chief of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) Rahardi
Ramelan approved the disbursement of Rp 400 million from the
agency's non-budgetary funds to finance a project to influence
media coverage to promote a favorable image of former president
B.J. Habibie in 1999.
Maj. Gen. (ret.) Khalid Ghazali, the former inspector general
of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, testified that the
disbursement approval was made following a proposal from La Ode
Kamaluddin, a former member of the People's Consultative
Assembly's interest group faction. Currently, La Ode is one of
advisors at the office of the Vice President.
"According to the proposal, the project cost Rp 600 million,
but only Rp 400 million was approved," he told the South Jakarta
District Court on Tuesday.
"The project was an attempt to brief media to publish positive
news about the Habibie administration during the 1999 General
Session of the People's Consultative Assembly," said Khalid, who
is now the commissioner of state-owned fertilizer company PT
Pusri.
He added that he took La Ode to meet Rahardi to hand over the
proposal.
According to the proposal, the funds were to be given to four
private television companies, state-owned television company TVRI
and 25 print media here. Each private television would obtain Rp
28 million, TVRI Rp 56 million and each print media Rp 21 million
for publishing positive stories about Habibie during the 14-day
session.
B.J. Habibie, who comes from South Sulawesi, was president at
the time after replacing Soeharto who stepped down in May 1998.
His term was about to end at the time and he was required to
present his accountability speech before the Assembly.
The Golkar party had named Habibie as a presidential candidate
to run for the 1999 election.
Earlier in the day, former aide to Rahardi, Bustan Jufri,
admitted that Rahardi had ordered him to give several checks,
including one to Khalid.
"It was for media during the 1999 Special Session, but I
didn't know the details," he said, adding that he had also given
a check worth Rp 150 million to the House of Representatives
although he also did not know what it was for.
Due to the testimony, Rahardi's lawyers asked the panel of
judges to present La Ode to testify in the hearing. Presiding
judge Lalu Mariyun approved the request despite the objection of
chief prosecutor Kemas Yahya Rahman, who claimed that La Ode's
testimony had nothing to do with the indictment.
La Ode is expected to testify next week, along with Maj. Gen.
(ret) Suwandi, the commander of the presidential guards.
According to the indictment, Suwandi obtained a total of Rp 2
billion from Bulog. The money was used for various purposes,
including to buy the guards uniforms.
Judge Lalu also approved the request of Rahardi's lawyers to
summon former treasurer of Golkar party Fadel Muhammad as well as
vice treasurers Mohammad S. Hidayat and Irish Indira Murti.
Fadel, Hidayat and Irish obtained some of the checks. Irish,
the lawyers alleged, received a check on April 20, 1999. Fadel
and Hidayat, too, had received several checks from former deputy
chairman of Bulog's finance division, Ahmad Ruskandar, the
lawyers said.
Fadel, who is also a businessman, is now the governor of the
new province of Gorontalo in Sulawesi.
Kemas, again, strongly opposed the idea, but Judge Lalu
dismissed his objection, saying that "the request is still within
context."
Rahardi, is accused of misusing Rp 62.9 billion (about US$
7.27 million) of Bulog non-budgetary funds in 1999.
As much as Rp 40 billion of the fund went to Akbar Tandjung,
then the state secretary, supposedly for a charitable project,
which was said to have been ordered by president B.J. Habibie.
Many believed that the money was used to finance the Golkar
party's campaign in the 1999 election.
Akbar, who is now House speaker and head of the Golkar Party,
is being tried at the Central Jakarta District Court over the
same case.