Devi Asmarani, Jakarta – Parliamentarians from the party linked to Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid are spearheading a new probe into an estimated 2.7 trillion rupiah (S$513 million) allegedly stolen from the National Logistics Agency (Bulog) under his predecessors.
And heading their list of "witnesses" to testify about their roles in facilitating the alleged irregularities is Parliament Speaker Akbar Tandjung – currently embroiled in a stand-off with the President over his attempts to oust central bank governor Syahril Sabirin.
The probe by Nation Awakening Party (PKB) legislators into Bulog's "off-budget funds" comes hot on the heels of fears here that the government might quietly shut down ongoing police inquiries into the latest Bulog money scam involving some of Mr Abdurrahman's closest aides and his former masseur Suwondo.
As much of the embezzled 35 billion rupiah has been recovered, speculation is rife that this latest parliamentary manoeuvre is a gimmick to divert attention from the Indonesian leader's woes.
PKB legislator Imam Churmein, who sits on a parliamentary commission overseeing Bulog, told The Straits Times yesterday that its new probe was triggered by the 35 billion rupiah scam.
Mr Abdurrahman has alleged since "Buloggate" surfaced last month that his name was being besmirched by his political foes. They however point out that he did indeed ask Bulog deputy chief Sapuan in January if he could have half of the 185 billion rupiah in off-budget funds Bulog had in its coffers.
Mr Churmein said yesterday: "We are concerned about the lack of transparent rules in the use of Bulog's off-budget funds. We want to find out what sort of abuses went on in the past."
His commission, backed by legislators from PKB and Indonesian Democratic Party-Perjuangan (PDI-P) of Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri, set up an eight-member team to look into the alleged illegal use of Bulog funds by officials and businessmen linked to former President Suharto.
Among those it intends to question are four former Bulog chiefs, including Mr Rahardi Ramelan, former Trade and Industry Minister, and Mr Jusuf Kalla.
According to Mr Widjanarko Puspojo, head of the probe team, Mr Akbar, as state Secretary under Mr Habibie, had to answer why he approved Bulog's request to continue handling its own non-budgetary funds, despite a recommendation by the State Audit Agency to incorporate the money into Bulog's official budget. A recent report by the state auditors said that over 2 trillion rupiah was withdrawn from the non-budgetary funds from 1994 to 1999.
The "Buloggate" scandal involving Mr Abdurrahman's aides was exposed shortly after he sacked Mr Kalla, prompting many to speculate that the expose was related to the latter's dismissal.
At a press conference yesterday, the non-government organisation GOWA, which uncovered the scam, dismissed allegations that it was linked to the President's political rivals.
"Yes, we've been linked with General Wiranto, Habibie, Fuad Bawazier, and just recently Arifin Panigoro, but none of it is true," GOWA's coordinator Farid Faqih said. Mr Fuad was a former finance minister while Mr Arifin is a PDI-P executive.