Speculation continues over ministers' names

JAKARTA (JP): Who could they be? This question buzzed around the capital on Monday following President Abdurrahman Wahid's announcement that he was preparing to replace three Cabinet members following new allegations of corruption.

Although the President has indicated the imminent shuffle on two occasions during his recent visit to the United States, he has yet to publicly disclose the names of the three ministers.

He is due to return home on Tuesday evening after an overnight stopover in Japan.

Even House Speaker Akbar Tandjung, one of four top politicians consulted last month by Abdurrahman about the Cabinet's formation, appeared to have been kept in the dark.

"I have not heard who these ministers are, but they should be given the due process of law, which will substantiate whether or not they were involved in corruption, collusion and nepotism," Akbar said.

He appealed to the public, and the media in particular, to uphold the principle of presumption of innocence.

"If there is evidence or strong proof, then their names can be made public, otherwise it could have a psychological impact on them, and affect the performance of the Cabinet."

Akbar, who is also chairman of the Golkar Party, agreed that the ministers' names should not be made public while the attorney general conducted the investigation.

He said he was unsure if the alleged corruption occurred before or after the ministers were sworn in to office.

Akbar said if the alleged corruption was committed before the ministers were installed, then they should not have been selected in the first place, especially given the fact that the President had stated that his ministers had been selected because they were clean, honest, trustworthy and not known for their extravagance.

Attorney General Marzuki Darusman is one of the few persons in Jakarta who has been informed of the names of the four ministers. He confirmed to reporters over the weekend that he had instigated preliminary investigations as ordered by the President.

While declining to reveal their identities, Marzuki hinted that the ministers' names were the ones most speculated about in the media.

Two names that cropped up frequently in the rumor mills on Monday were those of Minister of Manpower Bomer Pasaribu and Coordinating Minister of People's Welfare and Poverty Eradication Hamzah Haz.

Akbar denied that he had recommended Bomer's name to Abdurrahman, but recalled that when the Cabinet was being put together the five members of the selection committee were at a loss as to whom to appoint to the Ministry of Manpower.

Hamzah said on Monday that if his name was one of the three names drawing speculation in the media, he was ready to face investigation by the Attorney General's Office.

Hamzah said however that he had not received a summons for such an investigation.

The chairman of the Islamist United Development Party (PPP) has been linked to the Bank Bali scandal, an accusation which he denied once again on Monday.

He said that the accusation was a slander and was politically motivated to discredit his name and his political party.

The new Cabinet, sworn in on Oct. 29, was formed as a "compromise" between the country's major political forces, including the Indonesian Military (TNI).

When announcing the Cabinet line-up, Abdurrahman said that each Cabinet member had been proposed by one of the five national leaders involved in the selection.

The selection team comprised Abdurrahman representing the National Awakening Party (PKB), Gen. Wiranto representing TNI/National Police, Megawati Soekarnoputri for the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), Akbar for the Golkar Party and Amien Rais of the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Islamist "axis force".

The 35 Cabinet members have also been ordered to declare their wealth, but their reports have not been made public.

Observers meanwhile lauded the President's drive to uphold the integrity and credibility of his Cabinet, although some were puzzled at the President's reticence to identify the ministers in question.

"President Abdurrahman has a strong sense of politics. His goal to restore the government's image and credibility before the public is real," said Satjipto Rahardjo of the Diponegoro University in Semarang.

Slamet Effendi Yusuf, a legislator from the Golkar Party, said that in keeping with the spirit of transparency, the President should reveal the names of the suspects, suspend them from the Cabinet, and replace them if they were found guilty. (rms/emf/har/emb)