Team to probe officials' wealth

JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie will soon establish an independent team to probe the wealth of state officials in a bid to create clean governance, Minister of Justice Muladi said on Tuesday.

The President will also submit a number of bills to the House of Representatives to lay down stronger legal bases to eradicate corruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN) practices, he said.

"The commission will be set up before the end of this year," said Muladi after having an unscheduled meeting with the President at Merdeka Palace.

According to Muladi, Habibie has formally passed a bill on clean governance into law. The bill obliges all government officials to declare assets when they begin and end tenures with the state.

The administrative law is officially called the Law on State Administrators who are Free from KKN practices.

The law, endorsed by the House of Representatives (DPR) in April, covers the supervision of all state officials, including the president, ministers, senior government officials and managers of state-owned enterprises.

It is backed up by the Criminal Code, No. 3/1973 Law on the Eradication of Crimes of Corruption, and the No. 11/1980 Law on Bribery.

The House is still deliberating an anticorruption bill to amend Law No. 3/1973.

The law mandates the President, as the head of state, to head a Permanent Commission of Examiners to oversee state officials at executive, legislative and judicatory positions, and assign officials to state companies.

"The commission will comprise 10 representatives from the government and 10 from the private sector. They are nominated by DPR," said Muladi on Tuesday.

The commission also has the power to audit state officials holding office, as long as it is for clarification and not investigation purposes.

"The decree on the establishment of the commission will be signed by the President in his capacity as the head of state," said Muladi.

Meanwhile, former president Soeharto, who will be the major target of the commission, celebrated his 78th birthday on Tuesday with his children and grand children in Cisarua, West Java.

Well-informed sources said the former first family arrived in Cisarua soon after they voted on Monday and plan to stay there until Thursday at least.

They are expected to stay at a hotel inside Taman Safari park as Soeharto wanted to do camping with his family.

"They are camping in Cisarua," said the source on Tuesday.

Family friends, including his former adjutants, were expected to attend the celebration. (prb)