The parrot and Soeharto's loyalists

Kornelius Purba, Staff Writer, The Jakarta Post
purba@thejakartapost.com

When Soeharto celebrated his 77th birthday on June 8, 1998 -- or just 18 days after he decided to end his 32-year rule -- a reporter of The Jakarta Post wrongly concluded in his article on that day that only a parrot still recognized his leadership.

"Less than a month ago, 202 million Indonesian people called him president, but now only his trained parrot at home -- screeching "Good morning Bapak president" -- does."

The loyal parrot has died, reportedly from a stroke, but these days when we recall Soeharto's downfall on May 21, 1998, no one can deny that the parrot was not alone. Millions of people now dream of the better times under his rule.

His former favorite adjutant, Gen. (ret) Wiranto, will contest the July 5 direct presidential election as the candidate of Golkar Party, which Soeharto founded in the early 1970s. The party even won the most votes in the April 5 legislative election mainly by promising a return of the "good old days" under its former boss.

World leaders clearly need to learn from Soeharto on an exit strategy, on how to live comfortably and unperturbed even after relinquishing power, no matter how aggressively human rights organizations or global anticorruption movements try to bring him to rights tribunals or courts. Perhaps, only former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori can boast that he is as lucky as Soeharto. Japan generously accepted Fujimori as its own citizen when he had to flee Peru.

No single leader apparently wants to repeat the fate of South Korean presidents who should familiarize themselves with prison uniforms before leaving the Blue House.

'I quit', that was Soeharto's words when he announced his resignation six years ago. It seemed very simple, but he had made perfect preparations for his soft landing. He had put all his trusted officers in strategic positions in the military and police structure.

Wiranto as Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI) chief/minister of defense, was quick to offer the assurance of protection for the former first family. Army chief Gen. Subagyo Hadisiswoyo was his former body guard. Another former bodyguard Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin was in charge of security in Jakarta.

National Police chief Gen. Dibyo Widodo and Jakarta Police chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata also once served as his adjutants. Presidential Security Guard (Paswalpres) was headed by Maj. Gen. Sutarto Endiartono, who serves now as commander of the Indonesian Military (TNI). TNI is the new name for ABRI. At that time, however, his son-in-law Prabowo Subianto had to end his military career after serving as the head of the Army's Strategic Reserves (Kostrad) after a serious feud with Wiranto. Prabowo's dismissal, however, seemed beneficial to Soeharto's own interests.

Is there any better security for him?

Soeharto remains untouchable until now. There is an endless list of alleged abuses of power he committed when he was in power. But no one can touch him. His economic policies were diligently practiced by his three successors.

Andi Muhammad Ghalib, the attorney general under president B.J. Habibie -- Soeharto's immediate successor -- failed to trace Soeharto's wealth in Switzerland in 1999. Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) uncovered questionable transfers of funds from his bank account, and announced the result of its investigation when Ghalib was on the hunt in Switzerland.

His six children are still able run to run their businesses -- from toll roads to television -- although they have to make several "technical" adjustments to avoid public criticism.

It is difficult to find former presidents in any other country, who are as lucky as Soeharto, especially those who faced similar allegations to him.

Ask the common people about the general. Many of them will laud the prosperity they enjoyed during his leadership. They lamented his inability to control the greed of his children, but for them it was only an insignificant side effect of his tremendous success in building the country.

Giant foreign investors criticized the rampant corruption during Soeharto's tenure in public, but in private they will probably acknowledge it was much more profitable to do business here during his leadership. Corruption is even worse now.

When the presidential campaign begins next month ahead of the July 5 presidential election, the six pairs of candidates must realize that if they say bad things about Soeharto it will only backfire on them. Only Amien Rais will probably feel uncomfortable about praising Soeharto's success, because he was one of the most prominent reformist figures behind the nation's struggle to oust Soeharto in 1998.

Is it ridiculous to congratulate him today for the peace he enjoys after the people ousted him six years ago? Wouldn't you also want to be like him if the same thing happened to you?