Soeharto blames govt handling of students

JAKARTA (JP): Former president Soeharto has criticized the government's handling of students that led to bloodshed on Friday, according to his half-brother Probosutedjo.

"The reason why I resigned in the first place was to avoid bloodshed. Why should this happen now?" Soeharto was quoted as saying by the businessman, who related the views in an interview with Antara on Saturday.

"The government should've talked to the students," Soeharto said on Friday when Probosutedjo met him at his residence.

Soeharto resigned on May 21 amid mounting nationwide protests led by students demanding sweeping political reform. His vice president, B.J. Habibie, took over the presidency which Soeharto had held since 1966.

Soeharto was named as the target of an investigation into corruption in one of the 12 decrees endorsed by the People's Consultative Assembly during the Special Session which ended on Friday. His family and cronies also face investigation.

Soeharto and his grown-up children have rarely appeared in public since his resignation in May. Probosutedjo has spoken in public several times on behalf of the 77-year old former president.

"This (bloodshed) happened because (the government) did not listen to the students and did not treat them with respect," Soeharto said, as quoted by his half-brother.

He also said the government was responsible for the incident and should therefore apologize to the public.

Probosutedjo said that he personally was proud of the student protests because this time around they had not led to widespread rioting like in May.

"That can only mean that the May riots were actually engineered," he said, adding that the most recent wave of student protests was purely an expression of concern.

Probosutedjo singled out MPR chairman Harmoko for particular criticism, saying that he appeared to be on the point of laughter during a television appearance to express his condolences after the bloodshed on Friday.

"He (Harmoko) expressed his condolences at the bloodshed, but his facial expression was close to laughter," Soeharto's half- brother said.

He welcomed the government's plan to investigate Soeharto's wealth, saying it would allow the matter to be laid to rest quickly.

He said any money the former president has will be the accumulation of his entire salary as president, when all his expenses were taken care of by the state.

Probosutedjo said that even he was wealthier than Soeharto. "His house in Kalitan (Surakarta) is nothing compared to mine in Yogyakarta," he said. (emb)