Soeharto's wealth

Soeharto's wealth

An important dimension has emerged in the reform tide and is
now taking an increasingly clearer shape. It concerns the wealth
of our high-ranking government officials. At the present stage,
the basic concern is to clear up the question of former president
Soeharto's alleged wealth but the possibility cannot be ruled out
that Soeharto's subordinates will be made to share the spotlight
in the future.

In 1996, the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy, an
offshore organization, ranked Indonesia as the third-most corrupt
country in Asia. The following year, the same organization ranked
Indonesia worst in terms of corruption.

Efforts to encourage the promotion of this kind of
accountability through legal means must be continued. In the
future, this practice must become a tradition so that anyone who
comes into power will exercise it responsibly. Nothing in the
Constitution justifies a person enriching himself or herself and
his or her relatives. The people have a right to protest such
acts and demand an account.

The establishment of a clean and authoritative government has
become an aspiration of all of us. The government itself at one
time proclaimed the same ideal, although, unfortunately, the
effort was limited to uttering slogans. The people are still
waiting for our statesmen, politicians and bureaucrats to turn
this ambition into reality.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta