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Defense Minister accuses former military leaders

Source
Mandiri - December 31, 2000

Jakarta – Defense Minister Mahfud MD yesterday brushed off suggestions he would step down, which came from local legislator and ex Finance Minister, Fuad Bawazier, "Unless it is requested by the President or the cabinet is dissolved,"

Always relaxed in his hometown, Mahfud was speaking at a meeting with reporters from Yogyakarta newspaper Wawasan. He said neither he nor the Minister of Justice and Human Rights Affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra would leave the cabinet.

He did admit he had met with the legislator and Fuad had asked him to resign, saying that his (Mahfud's) "boat" was about to sink. "Fuad said I was a good man. But because the boat was sinking, I should resign so that I could save myself," he said.

He said Fuad's request was just emotional and that Fuad himself had been on a sinking boat when he was Finance Minister during the New Order era.

"The [boat] was sinking because it was holed by its passengers," he said whilst adding that Fuad hadn't stepped down, preferring to offer various excuses whilst 13 other cabinet ministers had tendered their resignations. "He was the only minister who didn't resign at the time," Mahfud said

Mahfud went on to say that the recent acts of terror including the "Bloody Christmas" tragedy could not be separated from the involvement of former Indonesian military (TNI) strongmen.

Besides still wielding influence, said Mahfud, they also had huge funds to buy supporters and mastermind various acts of terror. "They have much influence and money to buy supporters,"

Mahfud also stated that among the TNI strongmen, most of them were retired generals and no longer in the military organic structure. Their presence and involvement, according to him, could only be felt although to penetrate through the legal process remained very difficult.

When asked whether ex president Soeharto was among them, Mahfud said that the former President no longer had any such thoughts. But clearly, said Mahfud, most of them were in the first circle.

Their motivation to perform such acts, according to Mahfud, was to prevent legal efforts to disclose the crimes of corruption as well as human rights abuses which they had perpetrated in the past. "Therefore, some acts of terror were common when Soeharto was about to be investigated, or during corruption investigations involving his cronies," Mahfud reasoned

He said it was wrong to accuse the Indonesian military (TNI) of being behind all these cases. "The TNI are ready to leave the political ring and they are even willing to become fire fighters," he concluded.

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