Youths urge Habibie to dismiss Ghalib

JAKARTA (JP): Muhammadiyah youths told President B.J. Habibie on Tuesday to sack Attorney General Andy M. Ghalib because he was too weak and did not have enough guts to investigate the alleged illegally acquired wealth of former president Soeharto and his cronies.

Chairman of the Muhammadiyah Youth Organization Imam Addaruqutni warned Habibie that the country's political upheavals would continue unless the government took drastic measures to enforce justice.

"Lt. Gen. Andi M. Ghalib is the weakest factor in upholding the law and justice the way the President wants to," Imam said after a two-hour meeting with Habibie at Merdeka Palace.

The President cautiously responded to the youths' demand arguing there was no guarantee that Ghalib's dismissal would solve the problems.

"The President pointed out in a very short time it was of course difficult to reach all the targets," Imam said.

Just a few minutes after Habibie swore him in as the attorney general in June, Ghalib promised to continue the probe into corruption during the 32-year rule of former president Soeharto.

Ghalib was recently appointed the leader of the team investigating Soeharto's wealth, which also includes high-ranking officials such as Coordinating Minister for Development Supervision and State Administrative Reforms Hartarto.

In his defense, Ghalib never received any special treatment or promotion from Soeharto during his service in the Armed Forces, which saw him rise to the top of the Armed Forces (ABRI) Prosecutor's Office and the ABRI Law Development Body. He has practically never met Soeharto.

Hartarto worked for two terms as minister of industry and then as a coordinating minister from 1993 to 1998 under Soeharto.

Habibie retained him in his cabinet.

Ghalib, however, has so far failed to impress the public, especially when he called on people to trust Soeharto's recent denial of having a fortune stashed in foreign bank accounts.

"President Habibie is quite slow to respond to the aspirations of people who wants the government to take quick and as tough as possible action against (law violations)," Imam said.

Minister/State Secretary Akbar Tandjung disagreed with Imam, saying Ghalib's performance in investigating Soeharto's wealth was impressive.

"Resign? Why? Pak Ghalib has carried out the investigation process," Akbar said after accompanying Habibie during the meeting. (prb)