Jakarta – President Megawati Sukarnoputri will make sure that Indonesia's former dictator Suharto is brought to trial if she is re-elected in next month's voting, a top adviser said on Wednesday.
"We see the Suharto case as an important case that needs to be resolved. It is our intention to resolve it in the next administration," said Mr Subagio Anam, a lawmaker from President Megawati's party and a senior member of her campaign staff.
The government has previously attempted to bring the 83-year-old up on charges of stealing more than US$600 million. But Suharto's lawyers have successfully argued that he's too sick to stand trial, and the courts have ruled that he's mentally unfit to endure the proceedings.
Suharto seized power from President Megawati's father, Indonesia's founding president Sukarno, after a 1965 coup, and ruled with an iron first for 32 years. His US-backed dictatorship ended in 1988, when he stepped down after months of pro-democracy protests. During his reign he muzzled the media, rigged elections and allegedly amassed more than US$15 billion through corruption.
Critics claim that President Megawati is not eager to try Suharto because of personal and business favours he did for her family. But Mr Anam dismissed such claims, pledging that several high-profile suspects would be brought to justice. "When President Megawati wins the presidential election we will bring to justice a number of unresolved cases, including Suharto's," he said.
President Megawati is trailing badly in the public opinion polls ahead of the July 5 presidential elections. Latest surveys indicate she's 30 points behind the front-runner, her former security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Suharto's lawyers dismissed Anam's statement as an election ploy designed to restore President Megawati's standing with reformists, who are disappointed by her administration's lacklustre record on battling corruption.
"They are lying to the people by saying they want to bring Suharto to justice," Mr Denny Kailimang, one of Suharto's attorneys, said on Wednesday. "It is nonsense."