Soeharto chides ex-aides for faulting him

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)