The Jakarta Post, March 29, 2007
Kalla and abuses of power
We are witnessing the barefaced abuse of power by government officials. Such abuse
is blatant, but our President has been silent as per usual. Only Vice President Jusuf
Kalla has spoken to the public, not to punish those responsible, but to defend them.
We have read with deep concern how US$10 million of allegedly ill-gotten money was
transferred through a Justice and Human Rights Ministry account back to former
president Soeharto's youngest son, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra. This is a
scandal.
The transfer originated with the London office of Bank Nationale de Paris (BNP)
Paribas, who refused to transfer the money directly to Tommy, suspecting it was the
proceeds of corruption.
Instead BNP Paribas sent the money to the Justice and Human Right's Ministry,
which promptly sent it on to Tommy.
Both State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra, the then justice and human rights
minister, and the current Justice and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaludin have
been linked to the ordeal.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani said, quite clearly, that it is wrong to use a government
account to transfer private money. Yet Kalla defended the ministers and said the
money is clean. Is it really?
If Kalla was right that the money is clean, why then is the Attorney General's Office
joining in on the ongoing trial over a dispute between Tommy Soeharto and the
Guernsey branch of the same bank, BNP Paribas? Tommy wants the bank to pay out
tens of millions of dollars, but the has bank refused, suspecting the money was
garnered through corruption.
Why has this blatant abuse of power been condoned and even defended by Kalla? We
don't know for sure, the fact that Hamid is a close friend of Kalla may have something
to do with it.
In fact, this is not the first time that Kalla has dared move in such dangerous
directions. Kalla also fought for the extension of the controversial government
guarantee of Jakarta's problem-plagued monorail project, although -- again -- Finance
Minister Sri Mulyani had initially refused to provide such a guarantee.
One may suspect that the guarantee was finally given because the Bukaka company
-- which belongs to Kalla's family -- was involved in the venture, the contract to which
was awarded without tender.
The latest brouhaha involving Kalla was Bukaka Group's purchase of 12 German-made
BO-105 helicopters to be used by the National Disaster Management Coordinating
Board (Bakornas), which Kalla himself chairs.
Initially, the choppers were bought for Bakornas. However the Finance Ministry
refused to pay for the helicopters, arguing that normal import procedures were not
followed. This led Bukaka to acquire the choppers as a private purchase. They were
then rented directly to Bakornas to fight forest fires, again without public tender.
The customs office later impounded the choppers due to Bukaka's non-payment of
import duties. In response, Kalla -- with the support of President Yudhoyono --
intervened to secure the helicopters' release from impoundment.
Kalla argued the purchase of the choppers was for the country's "dignity", allowing the
government to stop borrowing helicopters from overseas to fight forest fires and haze.
He has the right to hold such nationalistic sentiment. But using his family's company
to satisfy it is a brazen conflict of interest.
It seems Kalla hasn't learned from the experience of a friend of his in the previous
Cabinet, former maritime and fishery minister Rokhmin Dahuri, who yesterday sat at
the defendant's chair. Former National Logistics Agency (Bulog) head Widjanarko
Puspoyo is also now sleeping in a police cell. Both are in over corruption cases.
In the chopper case, the public should thank Tempo magazine for uncovering the deal,
which borders on nepotism and corruption. It was also Tempo that uncovered
Tommy's money scandal at the Justice and Human Rights Ministry.
It is the role of the media, as the fourth estate, to uncover unethical and corrupt
practices and keep the public informed. But it is the duty of law enforcement to
pursue those cases.
We might not see our law enforcers move against Kalla or other public officials,
because of the latter's obvious political power. But, looking at the dynamics of our
democracy, we keep the hope alive that justice will finally be done. If not now, sooner
or later.
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