Suspicious bedfellows

Suspicious bedfellows

It is perfectly legitimate for members of the House of
Representatives, including Taufik Kiemas of the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction, to visit
factories. It was, therefore, technically legal for Kiemas and a
number of other House members to visit Indonesia's largest
petrochemical plant, PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Center some
time ago.

The visit has left people wondering, however, because Kiemas
is the president's husband while Chandra Asri is controlled by
tycoon Prajogo Pangestu. In what context was the visit made? Of
course, this visit could not be construed as just a get-together
for a cup of tea. It heavily reeked of political nuances because
the problems in which Chandra Asri is embroiled in, have from the
very beginning, heavily smacked of politics.

Megawati and Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi also discussed
Chandra Asri when the two met. Understandably, Marubeni Corp,
Prajogo's partner in this business undertaking, is one of Japan's
largest trading houses. Prajogo himself is known to be very close
to the center of power, dating back to Soeharto's administration
and up to the present.

It is, at this point, that some parties have begun to play the
Pertamina card as it is the only domestic company that can
provide raw materials for Chandra Asri.

However, Pertamina's participation must be based on
profit-and-loss considerations, and not because of the ruling
power's intervention in order to save one particular business
group. Pertamina is ready to supply raw materials to Chandra Asri
for a long time purely to make profits without any intervention
from any parties.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta