Critical Moment for Indonesia

Bringing former President Suharto to book on embezzlement charges is an important event for Indonesia and its embattled current president, Abdurrahman Wahid. The prosecution will press a point too often neglected in the developing world, that theft, corruption and cronyism are not acceptable prices to pay for economic development. Understanding that would help Wahid politically as he prepares to confront a legislature increasingly unhappy with his leadership.

Suharto, who ruled Indonesia with an iron fist for more than three decades, was forced out of office during the country’s financial meltdown in 1998. After months of investigation, Atty. Gen. Marzuki Darusman charged the former president with embezzlement of up to $570 million from charities under his control. While Suharto was in office, he and his family and friends built a multibillion-dollar business empire reaching into every sector of the economy.

The Indonesian economy grew under his rule, and the people lived in relative peace. But Suharto’s government was thoroughly corrupt, and the military committed countless atrocities to maintain his control. With his forced resignation in May 1998, Suharto, now 79, left the country an economic shambles. Separatist movements in the territories of Aceh and Irian Jaya, nourished by decades of military suppression, broke into the open, and fighting between Christians and Muslims has taken thousands of lives in the Molucca Islands.

Rebuilding the country never promised to be easy for Wahid, a moderate Muslim cleric with high ideals but little governing experience. He has not made it any easier with his unpredictable nature, reluctance to tackle difficult issues, flashes of anger and unwillingness to accept advice or criticism. Former allies are aggrieved, and the public is losing confidence in the regime.

Press reports of corruption in his inner circle are multiplying. One of his biggest blunders came last April when he fired two ministers from his Cabinet and refused to explain the move publicly. That opened Wahid to charges that he was betraying the coalition of parties that helped elect him and was consolidating power in the presidency, as his predecessors had. The firings set him on a collision course with the parliament that may yet lead to his impeachment.

This week’s opening session of the People’s Consultative Assembly, the legislative body that voted him into office nine months ago, should indicate his prospects. If the president supports criminal charges against Suharto, his political standing should rise, but that will help Wahid only temporarily.

To regain credibility, he has to cleanse his inner circle of friends and family and appoint qualified professionals, whose advice he should follow. He must also rebuild political alliances in the parliament if he is to succeed in pushing through difficult economic and social legislation. Success, however elusive, will be critical. With failure, the world’s fourth most populous country might well fall into violent disarray.