Soeharto chides ex-aides for faulting him

JAKARTA (JP): Former president Soeharto has lashed out at a number of his former ministers, who, upon facing questions about their New Order record, shunned their responsibilities and lay the blame on him.

Soeharto described to Yusuf A.R., a former student activist who visited him on Saturday, how those ministers now said that the former head of state made all important policies on his own during his terms of office.

After the meeting at Soeharto's residence on Jl. Cendana, Central Jakarta, Yusuf quoted Soeharto as saying: "They were not merely the former president's assistants but were also national leaders who had responsibilities, too."

Yusuf was jailed five times during the New Order regime for his opposition to state policies. He said he took the initiative to approach Soeharto now to discuss a number of problems facing the country.

Former ministers and other top officials always said Soeharto made all important state policies on his own when the Attorney General's Office questioned them over the previous regime's policies, Yusuf said.

"If at that time they were ministers they disagreed with the policies taken by Pak Harto, they should have said 'no' or resign," he said.

Yusuf and two other youth activists, Arief Budiman and H. Princen, were detained by the authorities in 1972 for opposing the development of Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, the brainchild of Soeharto's late wife, Siti Hartinah. (swe)