Page 145 - SCANDAL AND DEMOCRACY

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Bulog’s former deputy financial chief under President Habibie, Achmad Ruskandar,
would back their story by testifying that he had “witnessed the money being handed
over directly to a charity called ‘institution RJ.’” The source who had provided the
confidential file said, “This is the final plot that Akbar is going to play” at the attorney
general’s office.
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When Tanjung finally talked to state prosecutors, his story matched this third
scheme. After two weeks of escalating, if contradictory, pressures, President Megawati
gave legal clearance for her attorney general, M.A. Rachman, to question Tanjung. On
October 31, Tanjung obeyed a summons to the attorney general’s office as a “witness”
in the case. During questioning, he stuck to his story that the Rp40 billion had gone
to a charity for food distribution, and finally produced a name—the Raudatul Jannah
Islamic Foundation, the same “RJ” named in Tempo ’s exposé.
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The scheme was proceeding as planned until the Bulog deputy Achmad Rus-
kandar unexpectedly deviated from script, giving damaging testimony on November
20. He not only failed to mention the involvement of a Raudatul Jannah foundation
but also admitted placing three checks totaling Rp40 billion into Tanjung’s hands,
thus contradicting Tanjung’s earlier claim that he had never received any money
directly.
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Tempo also reported that Bulog officials had withdrawn ten checks totaling Rp40
billion from two banks, citing evidence that these had gone to two Golkar treasurers
and “members of the Golkar General Election Victory Board,” and were “intended
for campaign needs in the regions.” The most incriminating part of Tempo ’s report,
however, was documentation that Golkar’s treasurers had issued receipts for half of
the Rp40 billion. “Later,” said Tempo , “Akbar took back the original receipt[s] for Rp20
billion, promising to replace [them] with a new one for the entire sum: Rp40 bil-
lion.” The replacement never happened. “Fortunately,” Tempo added, “a photocopy
was safely kept in secret by a key player in the affair.” The key player later turned out
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to be Ruskandar, the very man who was turning state’s evidence.

Media’s Role
For the first time, Golkar’s chair appeared cornered—“trapped,” in Tempo ’s assess-

ment. He also found himself on the wrong side of media publicity, just as President
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Wahid had. The print press, particularly the newsweeklies, had been pursuing Bulog-
gate II doggedly since early October, when Rahardi Ramelan fi rst made his sensational
disclosure of paying Rp40 billion to Tanjung. Radio and television talk shows likewise
fi lled the air with lively discussion of the case, giving instant celebrity to Tanjung’s
critics.
By late October, members of Tanjung’s party were using the media to distance
themselves from their chair. Golkar official Muchyar Yara, looking “for the entire
world like someone preparing Tanjung for a ritual sacrifice,” speculated on Metro-TV
that Tanjung had probably “fudged the truth” in his story about the Raudatul Jannah
foundation. Others lobbied to remove Tanjung from party leadership.
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The media were now critical to the unfolding scandal in other ways. When Tan-
jung finally arrived at the attorney general’s office for questioning, the foreign press
reported that he went not to explain Ramelan’s disclosure but to respond to “[domes-
tic] media questions about what exactly he did with $4 million in government funds
in 1999, on the eve of the last election.” On November 19, the state news agency,
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Antara, confronted Tanjung about “media reports” that he had issued the two receipts