Indonesia ready to throw off Suharto
By Dara MacNeil
His people turned against him en masse. Former government
ministers, in a rare show of dissent, publicly stated that he
should go. Even a powerful grouping of retired generals joined
the ranks of the `reformers' and demanded an end to the 32 year
rule of Indonesia's General Suharto.
d finally, the sense that all was not well in the state of
Indonesia communicated itself to the man with more blood on his
hands than Pol Pot.
In a blatant attempt to buy time and control the succession race,
Suharto announced he will call elections and establish a new body
to introduce reforms. The new body will also be empowered to pick
his successor.
However, given that exactly half of the members of the proposed
body will be handpicked by the dictator, this measure is unlikely
to find favour with the protesters. Too little, too late.
After months of social and economic chaos, Suharto was finally
persuaded that he faced the final curtain. There is little doubt
but that his change of heart stemmed from a realisation that he
could no longer depend on the support of the all-powerful
Indonesian Defence Forces (ABRI).
In recent weeks, the power of Suharto's supporters in ABRI has
waned, particularly that of Lieutenant General Prabowo, who also
happens to be the ageing dictator's son-in-law. ABRI is now
divided, with the apparent development of a consensus that
Suharto has to go.
Bellicose noises directed at the student-led campaign for reform
are not an indication of support for the 76 year-old dictator.
Indeed, Suharto's top military aide, and the head of the army -
General Wiranto - has already made overtures to the student
leaders.
Of concern to ABRI is that the burgeoning street protests may
take on a momentum of their own and develop into a general,
widespread radicalised movement for genuine change.
Having recognised the inevitability of change, ABRI is now
anxious that it be in a position to control and dictate both the
extent and nature of that change. Should the citizenry get ideas
above their station, ABRI could find itself on the wrong end of
the momentum for reform.
ABRI - like all who threw in their lot with the ageing mass
murderer - prospered under Suharto's rule. The defence forces,
for example, have extensive and hugely-profitable business
interests in occupied East Timor.
Thus, their reluctance to kick Suharto until they were sure he
was well and truly down, stems from the fact that senior
personnel were loathe to bite the hand that has fed them so well
for over three decades.
d that hand has proved remarkably adept at feeding the extended
Suharto family also. After 32 years in power, the Suharto clan
have amassed anywhere between $30-$40 billion.
A note of caution - that estimate is almost a decade old.
Meanwhile, the chaos engendered by Suharto's thirty two years of
plunder has forced the per capita income of the average
Indonesian family back to the level it was when Suharto came to
power, in 1966. Back to square one, for some anyway.
Also worth noting is the fact that the IMF rescue package - which
came close to saving the bloody dictator - was valued at $35-$40
billion. In other words, the equivalent of the private, looted
wealth of the Suharto mob.
The IMF money came courtesy of western taxpayers - without their
knowledge or consent, of course.
The staggering wealth amassed by the aged dictator and his
obviously thrifty brood - his wife and six children are all in
business - appears to match, if not surpass the fortune pilfered
by another of history's great thieves, Mobutu Sese Seko, latterly
of Zaire.
The Suharto clan ran Indonesia like a private company, the entire
nation no less than their own private, sprawling monopoly. To
them, the country was nothing more than Indonesia Inc.
Suharto began as a racketeer. As an army commander in the early
1960s, he ensured the awarding of contracts to supply his troops
with food, medicine and clothing, to two close friends - in
return for `kickbacks'.
Those two friends - Liem Sioe Liong and Bob Hasan - attached
themselves to the rising army commander and, today, play pivotal
roles in the sprawling Suharto empire. Needless to say, they are
among the richest men in Indonesia.
In power, one of Suharto's first acts - after wiping out a
million alleged `communists' with US and British support - was to
take control of the country's lucrative flour milling business.
Competitors of the Bogasari Mills suddenly lost official
contracts, while the former grew fat on government deals.
In the 1970s, Suharto began setting up a series of foundations
through which his wife and himself could wield more efficient
control over their burgeoning business interests.
At last count, Suharto was in control of over 40 such
foundations, which control, or own stakes in virtually every
aspect of Indonesian economic life: flour milling, cement
factories, fertiliser manufacturers, toll roads, timber mills and
oil palm plantations.
Many of the enterprises are part-owned by Suharto's friends from
the old day, Sioe Liong and Hasan.
The dictator also enjoys close links with multinationals such as
Mobil Oil and giant mining conglomerate, Freeport McMoRan. The
latter enjoys a 2.6 million hectare concession in occupied West
Papua (annexed in 1969) where it mines copper, silver and gold.
The Freeport McMoRan operation is Indonesia's fourth largest
contributor of revenue.
Having put a little something aside for the twilight years,
Suharto began to set his six children up in business. Official
resources and facilities were shamelessly exploited. Thus, one
son's efforts to start an airline were aided by the use of
Indonesian airforce planes. The airforce logo was simply covered
over with the logo of the `new' carrier.
Indeed, in 1975, naval ships transported prize cattle for
breeding, from Australia to the Suharto family ranch, in
Indonesia. The naval vessels picked up their cargo after dropping
an invasion force on the shores of nearby East Timor.
In the 1980s, a daughter who established her own TV station was
helped by the fact that she was given full use of the facilities
of an existing TV station - without the requirement that she pay
rent.
A younger son, also in the airline business, has enjoyed full use
of facilities at the newly-built Sukarno Hatta international
airport, near Jakarta. Trifling matters such as rental fees, fuel
costs and even catering bills were not allowed impinge on this
busy young man's consciousness.
Typically, the airline scheme was a joint venture with the
Indonesian army.
On a broader scale, major state companies have been forced to
enter joint ventures with the Suharto offspring. These include
the national oil company, Pertamina, public works construction
companies, state telecommunications and satellite companies and
state-run pharmaceutical concerns.
One of Suharto's daughters is the Indonesian agent for US
telecommunications giant AT&T. Then US president George Bush
personally persuaded Suharto to award AT&T the lucrative telecom
project, over a Japanese competitor.
In more recent times, the offspring have used their father's
regional power to expand massively overseas - perhaps in
anticipation of the day it all comes tumbling down. The clan has
known concerns as far afield as China, Cambodia, Australia, West
Africa, Uzbekistan and Europe.
Currently, at home and abroad, they have interests in: shipping,
power plants, oil, mining, banking, timber, construction,
agriculture, chemicals, airlines and car manufacturing.
Indonesia Inc. is, above all, a family affair.
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