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Wahid May Have Had Role In Indonesian Scandal
JAKARTA, Jan 30 (News Agencies) - A parliamentary commission on Tuesday accused President Abdurrahman Wahid of "inconsistency" in explaining one scandal, and possible involvement in another, a document obtained by news agencies said Tuesday.
The commission is investigating Wahid's alleged involvement in the financial scandals.
Party factions at the lower house, the People's Representative Council (DPR), were mulling the commission's findings Tuesday in preparation for an official response, to be delivered to an open plenary of the parliament on Thursday.
The committee's final report on the scandals dubbed "Bulogate" and "Bruneigate," was submitted to the chairman of the DPR late Monday for further distribution to the party factions.
The first scandal refers to $3.9 million allegedly stolen last year by Wahid's masseur, Alip Agung Suwondo, from the state logistics agency, Bulog.
The second centers on a $2 million donation from the Sultan of Brunei, which Wahid said was a gift to be used for humanitarian assistance in the troubled Aceh province. Only part of the fund has been accounted for.
Wahid has denied any involvement in the scandals: "I have already stated to the special commission itself in our last meeting ... that all information on this is untrue, that I am not involved in anything," the president told Indosiar private television Tuesday.
The commission concluded there were "strong indications of Wahid's involvement in the disbursement and use of the Bulog funds, and that he was inconsistent in explaining the Brunei funds," Alberson Silalaho, a deputy from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) told AFP.
The report outlined the 50-member commission's analysis of evidence given by 27 witnesses linked to the scandals, plus two expert witnesses.
In the Bulog case, it concluded that it "could be suspected" that two meetings - one between Bulog deputy chief Sapuan and Suwondo, and another between Sapuan and Wahid - "accelerated the release of 35 billion rupiah [$3.7 million, 4.1 million euros] worth of Bulog funds."
The commission "is of the opinion that it ought to be suspected that President Wahid played a role in the release and use of Bulog funds," said the report.
It revealed no specific evidence to prove that Wahid had ordered the release or distribution of the Bulog funds.
Instead, it highlighted and questioned the "closeness" of Suwondo to Wahid and pointed to Wahid's own different figures on the amount of funds he initially planned to seek from Bulog to use for humanitarian purposes in Aceh.
It also cited "systematic and planned efforts by several sides" to obstruct the probe into Bulogate.
The name "Aris Djunaidi", a businessman said to have borrowed five billion rupiah from Suwondo, was thrown up as a ploy to eliminate indications of Wahid's involvement, it said.
On the Brunei case, the committee concluded that Wahid made "inconsistent statements" concerning the $2 million donation, "which shows that the president has given wrong information to the people, which is improper."
The committee focused on whether the donation constituted a personal gift or non-taxed state revenue on Wahid's failure to declare it to the Treasury.
It also looked at discrepancies between the claims of three people, including Wahid, as to what proportion of the funds went to Aceh and other areas of conflict.
The report cited the then Aceh governor, who said he had no official knowledge of the existence of financial aid from the Sultan of Brunei, and his criticism of Wahid's distribution of the funds via non-governmental organizations rather than state institutions.
A member of the commission said that a draft conclusion, eventually dropped by the committee before handing the report to legislators, stated that Wahid had "misused power, lied to the people and given birth to new corruption, cronyism and nepotism."
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