Solahuddin defends Wiranto's credentials

M. Taufiqurrahman and Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta

"If you can't beat them, join them" seems to be Solahuddin Wahid's motto.

Only two years ago, Solahuddin tried hard and failed to question several military officers, including Gen. Wiranto, over gross human rights violations in the Trisakti and Semanggi I and II shooting incidents.

On Tuesday, however, the prominent rights campaigner publicly declared his alliance with Wiranto, claiming that they had the same vision, mission and commitment even in law enforcement.

"We have the same commitment to bringing about a just and prosperous Indonesia," Solahuddin said when announcing his vice presidential bid under Golkar, which has chosen Wiranto as its flag bearer in the July 5 presidential election.

To justify his decision, Solahuddin called on the public to come to terms with the past and not to dwell on its bitter legacy.

"We need to be wiser in looking into the past. The time is right to turn vengeance into forgiveness and by revealing the truth... we hope that human rights abuse will not recur in the future," he said to the thunderous applause from hundreds of guests in attendance.

Solahuddin, who is also known as Gus Solah, said that in the next few days he would hold talks with a number of non- governmental organizations and victims of human rights abuse to explain his decision to team up with Wiranto.

"After completing the presidential registration with the General Elections Commission, I will pay them a visit. This is part of my accountability to the public," said Gus Solah, a deputy chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).

He declined to name which victims of rights abuses he would meet, but he said that it would include families of those who had perished in the May 1998 riots and those of students who died in the Semanggi and Trisakti shooting incidents. All occurred when Wiranto led the Indonesian Military (TNI) and was minister of defense.

Salahuddin also said on Tuesday that he had officially relinquished his position in Komnas HAM.

Solahuddin led in 2002 a Komnas HAM team investigating the May 1998 riots. His team tried very hard to subpoena several key military officers, including Wiranto, but was unable to do so as they ignored the summons.

Apart from the riots, Wiranto was also held responsible for the bloody mayhem that engulfed East Timor following a referendum in which most voted to separate from Indonesia after 22 years of oppression.

A United Nations-sponsored East Timor tribunal issued an arrest warrant on Monday for Wiranto for his alleged crimes against humanity that took place before and after the territory's breakaway from Indonesia.

Wiranto said on Tuesday that the arrest warrant was the latest effort in a smear campaign, involving certain parties in the country, to thwart his presidential bid.

"This is nothing new. I have been accused of committing almost the worst of all crimes, from human rights violations, money counterfeiting to involvement in a bank scandal," he told reporters.

Wiranto's bid for the presidency took a blow on Tuesday with the resignation of renowned political analyst Andi Alfian Mallarangeng from the United Democratic Nationhood Party (PPDK) central board.

He was disappointed by the party's decision to support Wiranto's candidacy. "Wiranto is part of the country's troubled past and I don't want to have a future leader who will be preoccupied with efforts to clear his name," Andi said.

Andi, however, appreciated the decision as it was made in a legitimate decision-making process.

Party leader Ryaas Rasyid defended his party's stance on Wiranto, saying that the Golkar Party candidate had the strongest chance of winning the presidential election.

"Based on our forecast, we believe that only Megawati and Wiranto will contest the second round of the presidential election on Sept. 20. But since PPDK is committed to the reform movement, it is impossible to support Megawati," Ryaas said.