INFID, May 19, 2004
INFID's Short News Overview No. V/14: May 14 - 19, 2004
Election News
Gus Dur rejected, NU splitted
Former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid's bid to snatch back his old job
received a blow when the election commission (KPU) said he had failed medical
fitness to compete in the July 5 poll. The KPU has obliged all presidential and vice
presidential candidates contending the July 5 presidential polls to undergo medical
examinations.
Gus Dur severely criticized KPU. He said the commission was "discriminatory and
unconstitutional" by blocking his presidential bid. A senior PKB (the Nation
Awakening Party) official said on May 17 that physical disabilities should not block
anyone from seeking the top job, and vowed the Wahid camp would challenge the
medical result. PKB deputy chairman Muhammad Hikam also said that if the
commission refused to budge, PKB would endorse Wiranto and his running mate,
Solahuddin Wahid, the Gus Dur's younger brother.
Meanwhile, acting chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Masdar F. Masoedi has
prohibited all NU leaders, including those of affiliated bodies, from making statements
supporting any presidential or vice presidential candidates in the upcoming election.
Masdar was appointed acting chairman of NU replacing Hasyim Muzadi, who was
declared non-active by NU's Syuriah Council following his decision to be Megawati
Soekarnoputri's running mate in the July 5 presidential election. NU leaders
established PKB ahead of the 1999 election.
Hasyim Muzadi "I Don't Need Gus Dur's
Blessing":http://www.infid.be/election_muzadi.htm.
Sources: Reuters 15/05, Antara 13/05, JP 15/05 18/05, Reuters 17/05
Kontras on Wiranto
The coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence
(Kontras), Usman Hamid, says that if Wiranto is elected as president the investigation
into former President Suharto's crimes will come to a halt. This is because Suharto's
family was the ones who elevated the former minister of defence/armed forces chief
into a position of power.
Although Wiranto has paired up with the recently resigned deputy chairperson of the
National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) Solahudin Wahid as his
vice-presidential running mate, according to Usman this will not have much of an
influence. "Pairing up with Solah [Wahid] does not mean that these human rights
issues are resolved. Because upholding human rights does not depend on Solah who
is only a part of Komnas HAM", he said accusingly.
Hamid himself acknowledged he was certain that Golkar's presidential and vice-
presidential candidates will be defeated in the coming presidential elections.
"Indonesia's period of transition [to democracy] has been too short to be able to forget
pass mistakes. The families of the victims of human rights [violations] will not be
willing to have Wiranto's case left behind without [him taking] legal responsibility",
said Hamid.
Wiranto Demands End to Criticism: http://www.infid.be/election_wiranto3.htm.
Wiranto and the Cendana Family: http://www.infid.be/election_tempomay18.htm.
Failed Generals Will Also Be Failed Political Leaders:
http://www.infid.be/election_generals.htm
Source: INS 14/05
Links
The Indonesian Social Foundation for Humanity (YSIK: http://www.ysik.org)
Indonesia Current Political Trend, January-March 2004
2004 General Elections: Will There Be Change?:
http://www.infid.be/Elections%202004%20-%20ICPT.pdf
General News
Report says 70% ADB projects in Indonesia unsustainable
"The ADB's operations evaluation office found that half of all audited projects rated
successful by the bank were of questionable sustainability. There's a considerable
likelihood that more than 70 percent of Indonesia's ADB projects will fail to produce
lasting economic and social benefits to the country," a report by Stephanie Fried of
the Environmental Defense organization in Hawaii says.
According to the United States' Congressional International Financial Institution
Advisory Commission, the report said, a lack of project sustainability is synonymous
with project failure, and sustainability is a much more important indicator of success
or failure than what the ADB calls "general success" or what the World Bank calls
"successful outcomes".
The ADB rates the projects it supports under the categories of "generally successful",
"partially successful", and "unsuccessful".
The report says that if the ADB projects that are rated generally successful were
really successful and if this was extrapolated to the $16 billion debt owed by
Indonesia to the bank, "this would mean that close to $5.9 billion of Indonesia's debt
load was generated from largely unsuccessful, wasteful or harmful projects."
Furthermore, projects in Indonesia appraised as generally successful by the bank
involve unmonitored resettlement components, projects where record-keeping seems
to have been abandoned, projects that are patently unsustainable, and projects that
are so poorly structured that rapid deterioration of project infrastructure is inevitable,
the report said.
The report was distributed in Jakarta by a number of local non-governmental
organizations, including INFID, WG-PSR and DebtWatch Indonesia, in response to
the ADB's 37th annual meeting in Jeju, South Korea, which ended on May 17.
Source: JP 19/05
Indonesia, Germany Agree US$29.25m Debt Swap Deal
Acknowledging the success of two earlier debt swap deals, the Germany government
has announced that it will enter into a third deal with Indonesia worth 25 million euros
(US$29.25 million) for environmental projects. Germany's deputy minister for
economic cooperation and development, Uschi Eid, said that the German government
was pleased with the ongoing projects being implemented under the first two debt
swap deals. Eid was on a five-day visit to Indonesia. She met with several
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and economic ministers, and also visited a
number of Indonesian-German projects. The third deal has yet to be officially signed,
but discussions about what type of environmental projects will be involved are
currently underway with the Ministry of Forestry and the Office of the State Minister
for the Environment.
Under the Indonesian-German debt swap scheme, Germany will write off a certain
amount of debt after Indonesia spends 50 percent of the renounced amount in rupiah
on projects that have been agreed by both governments. Indonesia owes up to 1
billion euros to Germany.
Source: JP 15/05
Court finds Tempo guilty
The East Jakarta District Court ordered on May 17 Tempo media group co-founder
and senior journalist Goenawan Mohamad to print a public apology to well-connected
tycoon Tomy Winata for his statements deemed libelous published last year in the
Koran Tempo daily.
In its verdict, the court ruled the defendants guilty of defaming the businessman and of
violating the principle of presumed innocence in regards Tomy, the plaintiff. The
defendants in the civil lawsuit are Goenawan, Koran Tempo and the daily's publisher,
PT Tempo Inti Media Harian. Presiding judge ZA Sangadji and judges Syamsul Bachri
and Fritz John Polaya, ordered the defendants to run the apology on the front pages of
Koran Tempo and Kompas dailies for two consecutive days.
Goenawan and Tempo lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis immediately told the court they
would appeal the ruling.
Tommy Winata, who has been linked to the country's powerful military, had sued
Goenawan Muhammad as part of his long-running legal battle with Tempo magazine.
Winata has already won more than $1 million in damages from the magazine in
previous court rulings that are under appeal.
Sources: JP 18/08, AP 17/08
Court sentences 43 councilors for graft
An Indonesian court sentenced dozens of town councilors in West Sumatra to prison
for pocketing millions of dollars budgeted for municipal services, a court official said
on May 18. Judges sentenced 43 members of the 55-seat council in Padang to prison
terms ranging from 24 to 27 months after convicting them for misusing the equivalent
of US$7.2 million from the city's 2002 budget, Prasetyo Budi said. The councilmen
remain free pending appeals to a higher court, Prasetyo said. Another seven council
members, who are from the military and police, are being tried by separate tribunal. A
local community group in Padang first brought the case to public attention last year,
prompting legal activists to hail efforts by ordinary citizens to curb corruption.
House of Representatives members, Paturungi Parawansa of the Golkar Party and M.
Lumbang Tobing, from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said they
were shocked by the graft case. Parawansa said on May 18 that such collective
corruption was growing among state officials due partly to poor supervision under
regional autonomy. Agun Gunandjar Sudarsa, deputy chairman of the House's special
commission for reviewing the Autonomy Law, also blamed the graft scam on
incomplete concepts and misinterpretations of regional autonomy.
Sources: AP 18/05, JP 19/05
Regional News
Aceh
May 14
Acting security minister Hari Sabarno said Jakarta would end a year of martial law in
Aceh and impose a state of civil emergency, which will take effect on May 19.
Syah Kuala University sociologist Otto Syamsuddin Ishak proposed the government
establish a transition administration in the province with the main task of imposing
special autonomy, enabling the direct election of civilian authorities.
Hasballah M. Saad, an Acehnese figure and former minister of human rights
suggested that Megawati replace Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh who has been linked
to several corruption scandals.
May 15
The Free Aceh Movement (GAM) freed 22 civilian captives. GAM handed the 22
hostages to the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) in the remote subdistrict of Peudawa in
East Aceh, about 70 kilometers west of the regental capital of Langsa.
May 16
GAM released RCTI cameraman Fery Santoro and three other in Lhok Jue, Aceh
Timur. Coordinating Ministry for Security and Politics secretary Sudi Silalahi said all
the hostages were healthy and well.
The self-proclaimed Prime Minister of the State of Aceh, Malik Mahmud, slammed
Jakarta's plan to lift martial law in Aceh, saying it was only meant to hide the
military's failures there.
May 17
The Aceh authorities transferred 171 convicted GAM rebels from jails in Aceh to
prisons on Java Island. Also transferred was Muhammad Nazar, the head of the
presidium of the Aceh Referendum Information Center, who was sentenced to five
years in jail in May last year for spreading hatred against the government. The transfer
of the rebels to jails in Java was the third since the government imposed martial law in
Aceh in May last year.
May 18
A Red Cross official who asked not to be identified said GAM have freed 150 civilian
hostages, and that a group of local reporters who helped negotiate the deal were not
held against their will. Seven Indonesian reporters who went to the GAM headquarters
over the weekend to seek the release of a local television cameraman had returned,
the official added. There had been concerns on May 17 they also might have been
taken hostage.
President Megawati Sukarnoputri said military rule would be replaced by a civil
emergency on May 19. Civil emergency means a civilian authority will govern the
province, but it still can enforce extraordinary security measures such as curfews and
house searches.
May 19
Military spokesman Major Ahmad Husen said most of the nearly 150 people freed by
GAM were not hostages but people rounded up from around the release site.
Indonesia Losing 'Secret War': http://www.infid.be/aceh_oneyear.htm.
Sources: JP 15/05 16/05 18/05, Antara 16/05, AFP 14/05 16/05, SMH 14/05, Reuters
18/05
Maluku
Indonesia could face new bloodshed between Christians and Muslims in the Maluku
islands ahead of July's national presidential elections, an international think tank
warned on May 18.
The Brussels-based International Crisis Group said authorities must arrest unidentified
snipers who fatally shot most of the 40 people killed and wounded about 200 in riots
there last month. Two-thirds of the victims were Muslims.
The killings have raised fears of a return to communal mayhem that hit the area three
years ago, when up to 9,000 people died and hundreds of thousands were displaced.
The ICG doubted an Indonesian police finding that radical Muslims groups were
behind the shootings - arguing that the extremists don't have the capability and that
they wouldn't target their own people.
Unidentified marksmen have featured prominently in many violent incidents in recent
Indonesian history. None has ever been arrested, prompting many to speculate that
only army snipers could have committed the crimes and remained free with the
backing of the powerful military elite.
For the full report, go to: this URL
Source: AP 18/05
Abbreviations
AFP Agence France-Presse
AP Associated Press
JP The Jakarta Post
INS Indoleft News Service
SMH Sydney Morning Herald
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