Soeharto camp 'has means for political comeback'

Soeharto camp 'has means for political comeback'

JAKARTA (JP): Political forces loyal to former president
Soeharto have enormous financial resources at their disposal to
engineer a legitimate comeback during the coming elections,
politician Soegeng Sarjadi warned here yesterday.

Soegeng, a former legislator for the ruling Golkar grouping
who switched allegiance to the Indonesian Democratic Party in
1992, said the "old" pro-Soeharto forces wielded the necessary
material means despite lacking political clout at present.

He noted that Soeharto's Dakab foundation, set up mainly to
finance Golkar social activities in July 1985, has assets
estimated at Rp 836.2 billion.

"A mere 5 percent interest on half of that sum per month is
already a huge amount of money, and this can be used to buy votes
(in the elections)," Soegeng told a discussion held by the Center
for Information and Development Studies (CIDES).

He advised public and proreform figures to remain vigilant.

"The upcoming elections should never return the old political
forces."

Elections are expected to be held in the middle of next year
after an extraordinary session of the People's Consultative
Assembly (MPR) this December sets a poll date.

Talk has been rife this past week about the possibility that
Soeharto, who resigned from the presidency on May 21, may be
maneuvering to stage a comeback.

ABRI subsequently warned that it would not allow the return of
old political forces.

Soeharto is technically still the chief patron of Golkar, the
political organization which holds a majority in the House of
Representatives and the People's Consultative Assembly.

His position endows him with overriding power over other
Golkar components, including the central executive board.

Two of his children, Siti Hardijanti Rukmana and Bambang
Trihatmodjo, are also executive members of Golkar.

Both Soegang and fellow speaker Dawam Rahardjo noted the
crucial role which could be played by the Armed Forces (ABRI) by
not supporting parties, especially Golkar, which were likely
favorably disposed to the former government.

Both suggested the Armed Forces should be completely neutral
in the political arena.

Political scientist Dawam Rahardjo of CIDES ventured that the
Armed Forces would stay clear of politics.

"They (ABRI) are a state apparatus, so they should not involve
themselves in politics," Dawam argued. He did not touch on
whether it should also surrender its traditional sociopolitical
role.

Pancasila

Dawam said it may also be time to do away with the sole
ideology principle for political parties.

He suggested the government look into the possibility of
revoking a provision in the political party law which stipulates
that every party must be based on the state ideology of
Pancasila.

"Pancasila is a state ideology, not the principle of political
parties."

He said that political parties should be free to decide on
their own identity and principles, and that the use of a sole
ideological principle could also hamper freedom of thought and
eventually democracy.

"I believe that now is the end of the ideology era... We have
to be more practical."

He warned that the glorification of a single ideology would
lead to a dominant faction, like Golkar in the past, manipulating
it to further its own interests by professing to uphold its
sanctity. (byg)