Corruption claim grips Indonesian politics

Tandjung has ignored calls to step down

By Yenni Kwok

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Indonesia is bracing itself for yet another political crisis after the Attorney General's office accused House Speaker Akbar Tandjung of involvement in a multi-million dollar scandal.

Tandjung, also the chair of Golkar Party -- the second biggest party in parliament -- has so far ignored calls to quit his post, saying he is innocent until found guilty by a court.

On Monday, Attorney General M.A. Rachman announced that his office had raised Tandjung¹s status from witness to suspect in the 40 billion rupiah ($4 million) scandal involving misused funds from the State Logistics Agency (Bulog).

A total of 54.6 billion rupiah ($5.46 million) has been allegedly misappropriated from the agency in 1999, during the tenure of President B.J. Habibie.

Tandjung, who was the state secretary at that time, had admitted that he received 40 billion rupiah, but has denied any wrongdoing.

He said he merely acted under the orders of Habibie and the money had been channeled through a charity foundation to supply food to the poor.

He also claimed he only witnessed the checks being handed by Bulog officials to the foundation executives and he himself never received the money.

However, the foundation chairman refuted this, saying he handed the checks personally to Tandjung.

Media reports

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Reports in the Indonesian media claim Tandjung had channeled the funds to Golkar Party, who ruled the country for over 30 years, and used it to finance the 1999 election campaign.

The Attorney General decided to name Tandjung as a suspect in the scandal after President Megawati Sukarnoputri gave the green light to investigate him.

Commentators, though, are concerned the allegations will create political repercussions.

"It can become a political crisis if this case goes on until August, when the MPR [the supreme legislative body] convenes for its annual session," political analyst Kusnanto Anggoro said.

Angorro also added that Indonesia's political dynamics could become more fluid, affecting the fragile coalition of the political parties and may also threaten to split the Golkar Party further.

There is no party who holds a single majority in the Parliament, therefore, party coalitions are important.

As if to calm the worries about the political stability, Tandjung told reporters: "We [Golkar] will keep supporting Megawati¹s government."

Buloggate

This is not the first scandal involving funds from Bulog, traditionally the cash cow for Indonesian government officials.

People still clearly remember the political turmoil following the so-called Buloggate, in which Megawati¹s predecessor, Abdurrahman Wahid was allegedly involved in the theft of some $4 million from Bulog by his personal masseur, who claimed he was acting on Wahid's behalf.

Wahid claims innocence, and the legal apparatus has yet to investigate him as a suspect.

Nevertheless, parliament declared him guilty and for months, there was a stand-off between him and the legislative body, which ended when the MPR sacked him in July.

Ironically, Tandjung was one of the main political figures behind efforts to oust Wahid.