Soeharto's wealth: The key to Habibie's future

Soeharto's wealth: The key to Habibie's future

By Tjipta Lesmana

JAKARTA (JP): The success of the Philippines in recovering
part of the wealth siphoned off by their ousted former president
Ferdinand Marcos should serve as a lesson for Indonesians
contemplating the recovery of some of the wealth allegedly stolen
by former president Soeharto.

As soon as Corazon Aquino, the widow of the late senator
Benigno Aquino, succeeded Marcos as president of the Philippines
in February 1986, two pressing problems rose to the top of her
administration's agenda, namely to amend the constitution and to
trace the assets that Marcos amassed during his 20 year rule.

Regarding the second problem, Aquino set up an independent
team made up of people renowned for their high integrity. The
team was given broad authority to carry out its task -- tracing
the assets of the Marcos family and returning them to the state.

Armed with preliminary data collected at home, the team began
investigations in the United States and Switzerland. After about
18 months, the team's perseverance paid of and it successfully
identified a number of fixed assets owned by the Marcos family in
New York and their cash savings in a number of Swiss banks. These
findings were a big blow to Imelda Marcos, who had previously
"sworn" that her family did not have one cent abroad. She even
claimed that she had to beg Marcos' former friends to help her
finance the care of her husband's corpse in Hawaii.

Soeharto was often likened to Marcos -- both men were
authoritarian, allowed no room for opposition, had a desire to
rule for ever, were very corrupt and nepotistic and provided a
wide range of business opportunities for their families and
friends. Both fell from power in almost the same way -- toppled
by people's power movements spearheaded by university students.
The difference is that Marcos was "picked up" and then detained
by the United States while Soeharto was not.

When Marcos fell from power, Filipinos believed that their
former president had robbed them of tens of millions of U.S.
dollars. Soeharto is in the same boat. The public, gleaning
information from foreign sources, believes that Soeharto and his
family have amassed huge fortunes during his time in office.
Research conducted by various parties abroad, including the
reputable Fortune magazine, corroborate this commonly held
opinion.

Ruling elites often consider unfavorable public opinion as a
dangerous "foe" capable of destroying their power. Although it is
not always true, public opinion often comes to be regarded as the
truth after it has been held for a long time.

Understandably, when Soeharto said in a recent televised
statement that he did not have even one cent in savings abroad,
opposition leader Amien Rais simply dismissed his claim as a
humorless joke. Soeharto's statement was akin to a small stone
bouncing of a very strong wall, but it is true that in the
absence of authentic proof, the community cannot just accuse
Soeharto of being a "big liar".

However, President Habibie has no choice but to determine the
veracity of Soeharto's statement.

In his initial address after being installed as President,
Habibie said that his administration was determined to eradicate
all form of corruption, collusion and nepotism (better known by
their Indonesian acronym of KKN). No one knew how serious Habibie
was when he made that a statement.

Furthermore, rumors have been circulating that Soeharto is one
of the world's wealthiest people, a label that he has
categorically denied.

It is crucial for Habibie's administration to check the
veracity of Soeharto's statement because otherwise the Indonesian
people will brand Habibie a fraud. Even now he is courting that
moniker as a result of some of his less well judged policy
measures.

The line up of his Development and Reform Cabinet disappointed
many people because certain ministers were allegedly involved in
corrupt practices during the Soeharto era. One minister was
denounced by his own people when he was their governor. Others
are known to be very close to Soeharto.

His recent award of Mahaputera medals to certain people very
close to him has also lowered Habibie's integrity in the eyes of
the public. Furthermore, the pretext that his younger brother,
J.E. Habibie, deserved a medal for twice being appointed director
general of sea communications and serving as an ambassador was
frankly ridiculous.

His sudden decision to replace attorney general Sudjono
attracted suspicion of his willingness to eradicate corruption
because the public believed Sudjono was committed to tracing
Soeharto's assets. Moreover, when the new Attorney General, Andi
Mohamad Ghalib, said: "Why shouldn't we trust Soeharto?" people
became even more skeptical about the government's efforts to
trace the assets of the former president and his family.

Statements made by government officials to the effect that no
action can be taken in the absence of evidence reflects their
stupidity. An investigation is conducted to uncover evidence.

President Habibie should make use of strong public support for
an investigation of Soeharto's assets to help him reestablish his
image and integrity in the eyes of the country. The most
practical step he could take to this end would be to set up an
independent team, just like the one established by Aquino in the
early days of her administration. The government should not take
this Herculean task upon itself because the public have lost
confidence in the national legal system, a state of affairs most
certainly not helped by Ghalib's comments on Soeharto after the
latter's recent appearance on television.

An independent team should be made up of figures whose
integrity has never been questioned. No government officials
should be allowed to sit on the team so that its objectivity and
impartiality can be guaranteed. Once established, the team should
do the following jobs.

. The team should visit the headquarters of Fortune magazine
in the United States and find out where it obtained information
about the Soeharto family's assets. The magazine once assigned
journalist Michael Vatikiotis to Jakarta for quite a long time.
In 1993, he wrote a book about Indonesia in which he claimed that
a number of Soeharto-led foundations had accumulated funds of
between US$2 billion and $3 billion.

The team could find out whether it was true that between $1
and $2 was deducted from each barrel of crude oil exported from
Indonesia. A noted economist, Hartoyo Wignyowiyoto, once
disclosed that this was the case.

The team could go to Austria to check reports that some
Indonesians deposited hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars in a
number of banks there. The banks may be able to reveal the names
of the depositors.

The team could also visit Germany, the United States,
Switzerland and a number of other countries. If it is given
legitimacy by the Indonesian government, the team will be able to
obtain the full support of foreign governments in its
investigation. There is an international agreement that money
earned illegally must be returned to the legal and legitimate
governments that are entitled to it, no matter where it is
deposited. Indonesia's donors will surely assist the team because
they would not want to see part of their financial assistance to
the country embezzled by corrupt officials.

At home, the team could also collect information about
businesses related to Soeharto. For example, the business tycoon
Bob Hasan has openly admitted that 80 percent of the shares in
his Nusamba business group are held by Soeharto-led foundations.

In this respect, there is an irregularity because a foundation
is, by law, not allowed to engage in commercial ventures.

Rumors also persist that some of the businesses run by tycoons
Liem Sioe Liong and Prayogo Pangestu actually belong to the
Soeharto family. Only recently it was revealed that 30 percent to
40 percent of the shares in Bank BCA were owned by the Soeharto
family. If Liem and Pangestu were questioned for 10 hours, the
team might be able to elicit some surprising information from
them.

In short, unlike what the new Attorney General has hinted, the
country would benefit from an earnest effort to unearth the
Soeharto family's assets, even though the results could be
shocking, both to Indonesians and to the rest of the world. The
question is whether or not Habibie has the guts to take the
necessary action.

The writer is a freelance journalist and lecturer at the
University of Indonesia School of Social and Political Sciences.