INDONESIA: Courts set to continue hunt for Suharto's billions
Updated
Days after Suharto's death, Indonesian authorities have indicated his children may yet be brought to justice. Prosecutors have been told to name at least one of his children as defendants in a corruption case against him.
Presenter: Joanna McCarthy
Speakers: Eric Ellis, Correspondent for Fortune Magazine in South East Asia
ELLIS: Well of course his children were hated by Indonesians. I mean there was certainly respect for their father and of course he actually lived quite modestly. You could argue that one of the many things that counted against him in his rule was that he let his children essentially run rampant. They were rent seekers, rentiers. There wasn't a business or wasn't any sort of commercial economic activity in Indonesia, particularly during the latter period of Suharto's rule that a family member couldn't be found in, and Indonesians knew that very well.
MCCARTHY: Do you think it was President Suharto's unwillingness or inability to reign in his children and their business interests was his biggest downfall?
ELLIS: That's certainly a factor. There were a lot of things about Suharto's rule that academics and Indonesians will debate about forever, but certainly, particularly towards the end of his reign, there was an infamous case of a gold mine that allegedly had one of the world's biggest gold deposits and foreign companies were vying for its attention and the various members of the family just basically decided to almost steal the business and went into competition with each other. And then it was revealed of course that the gold mine had no gold in it whatsoever and everyone ended up with egg on their face. And it really underlined the degree of corruption and greed, the sheer greed that the family had and as I say Indonesians hated that.
MCCARTHY: To what extent have the family been able to use their media holdings to either boost their public image or dampen or hide their less salubrious characteristics?
ELLIS: That's a very important matter, I think. Bimantara in particular. Since Indonesia collapsed in 98 when Suharto was ousted and then it turned into a fairly vigorous democracy, probably South East Asia's most robust. The media's become very important. Now Bimantara controls a number of significant and populous television stations. I guess the Channel Nine of Indonesia and the coverage of Bimantara's channels have been giving to Suharto's alienated struggle with mortality in the last month or so has been largely almost exclusively sympathetic. There's very little debate about his questionmarks around his rule and the alleged killings in the 60's of Communists and the corruption and so on. And this helps massage the public image of the family and the legacy now that of course politicians ??? respond to voters and the media's a very important influence in the way that the people perceive what's going on in their society and it just all helps with the management of Suharto's legacy.
MCCARTHY: And finally Eric Ellis, now that Suharto has died, what do you expect? Are the gloves off in trying to recover state money from his children?
ELLIS: That's a very good question to and it's not clear. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono the current president was elected in 2004 on an anti-corruption ticket, which he has not fulfilled in any dramatic or significant way. Now that perhaps the patriarch of the family has gone and SBY who of course who of course needs to be, wants to be re-elected next year. It's quite possible that he could go after the kids, who as I say were hated among Indonesians, while at the same time, somehow managing the legacy of his father who in the eyes of Indonesians wasn't all bad.
