Sofjan a faithful supporter of Soeharto: Politician

Sofjan a faithful supporter of Soeharto: Politician

JAKARTA (JP): Noted 1966 Generation figure Abdul Gafur said
yesterday he had no doubts about Sofjan Wanandi's allegiance to
President Soeharto.

Gafur was commenting in response to mounting rumors that
business tycoon Sofjan had fled the country following a military
questioning about his possible involvement in a bomb blast last
month.

"I know Sofjan well. We struggled together in 1966 for the
establishment of the New Order. Never presume he has betrayed the
cause," said Gafur, who is a deputy speaker of the House of
Representatives.

"He (Sofjan) is not a traitor. Although he's of Chinese
decent, he cannot even speak Chinese. He may have gone overseas
to celebrate Chinese New Year."

Gafur said that as far as he knew Sofjan was a faithful
supporter of Soeharto, the New Order's founding father, and had
contributed a lot to the country.

"If he has a different opinion about the current national
leadership, it's his own business. Or if he refuses to exchange
his U.S. dollars for rupiah, it does not mean that he does not
love the country."

Sofjan was questioned by intelligence officers of the city
military command after documents bearing his name were seized at
the scene of a bomb explosion in a low-cost apartment building in
Tanah Tinggi, Central Jakarta. The incident was blamed on the
tiny, banned People's Democratic Party (PRD).

Directorate General of Immigration spokesman M.A. Ghani said
Monday that Sofjan left for Sydney on Jan. 27. It is unclear
whether the chairman of the Gemala Group has returned home yet.

Gafur said Sofjan should show up and explain the reason for
his Australian trip or the public would continue to speculate.

"There is not enough evidence to detain him, but these
groundless rumors are mounting only because he has left the
country."

He refused to link Sofjan's questioning to a political move to
find a scapegoat for the economic turmoil.

"The most likely thing is that some people who dislike him
have taken advantage of the (bomb blast) case to knock him down."

Another Deputy House Speaker Syarwan Hamid agreed that this
was likely, saying that allegations that Sofjan had funded PRD
activities coincided with a lack of public confidence in
government policies succeeding in fixing the economic problems.

"That's the way intelligence thinks. It's not enough, however,
to take a person to court based on intelligence analysis,"
Syarwan said.

He said the public might speculate about Sofjan's involvement
with the PRD, but suggested they abide by the law.

"Let's just leave the investigation to the authorized
institutions. The public must not try him," he said. (amd)