Page 147 - SCANDAL AND DEMOCRACY

132 Chapter 7

this graft. Indeed, by March 2002 only PKB and the “Reform Faction” (Partai Amanat
Nasional and Partai Keadilan) remained committed to a DPR investigation, but they
held just ninety-two of the DPR’s five hundred seats. Some feared that a series of
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scandals implicating all the major parties in Bulog corruption would simply make vot-
ers cynical. “The real casualty,” said the Economist , “may be democracy itself.”
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By February 25, interest in Buloggate II had “waned,” seeming to vindicate these
concerns about a surfeit of scandal. Nonetheless, Tanjung had already been con-
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victed in the court of public opinion. In March, pressure on Megawati’s PDIP began
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to build again, made more acute by internal dissatisfaction and, perhaps most criti-
cally, threats from international donors to withhold billions in aid. University stu-
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dents once again took to the streets, demanding a parliamentary probe into Buloggate
II. “More student protests are expected to come,” the Asia Times predicted, “which
means Indonesia is facing yet another turbulent, uncertain year [that] could mark the
beginning of the end to the leadership of Megawati.”
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The other major parties were equally reluctant to anger the public by voting
against the probe. Instead, as DPR leaders decided in early March to postpone the
decision for a parliamentary investigation, the media again became the wild card,
reporting PDIP leaders’ paralysis and maintaining pressure for some resolution.
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In a turn of events that caught nearly everyone off guard, especially the DPR
Speaker Akbar Tanjung, the attorney general had him arrested and placed him in
detention. On the morning of March 7, 2002, Tanjung arrived at the attorney gen-
eral’s office for his third interview, “beaming” and shaking hands with reporters.
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Seven hours later, he emerged, jumped in his black Land Cruiser, and sped toward the
compound gate, nearly mowing down an official in his path and stopping only when
blocked by a police truck and an armed barricade. “Under flash bulbs and cameras,”
Tempo wrote, “the famous figure stooped weakly. He was Akbar Tanjung, and his face
looked glum and dejected.” The head of the party that had ruled Indonesia for more
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than three decades was under arrest.
This dramatic denouement was a strong indication that the cycle of media exposé
and political scandal that had brought down President Habibie and his successor
Wahid was a key driver in post- reformasi politics. But two days later, in a telenovela
twist in this cycle of revenge, the attorney general’s office suddenly disclosed that
one of Tanjung’s codefendants, a “contractor” named Winfried Simatupang, had just
“returned” most of the Rp40 billion allegedly diverted from Bulog into Golkar’s cam-
paign coffers. On March 12, Simatupang handed over the final Rp7.5 billion. He
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claimed he had simply been hiding the money “under his mattress” for the past three
years, producing the clearest proof yet that had it not gone to any food distribution
activities, but also supporting Tanjung’s claim it had not gone to Golkar.
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Most significantly, the return of the money helped Tanjung deny that he had per-
sonally profited. Things starting looking up for the Golkar leader. When he now refused
to relinquish his authority as party chair, calls quieted for an extraordinary conference
to name a successor. Consequently, on March 26 as his trial on graft charges got
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underway, the DPR voted to back Tanjung’s continued tenure as Speaker.
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Golkar’s Comeback via Scandal
From the outset, political interests compromised the case against Tanjung, who
remained, as DPR Speaker and Golkar head, the second most powerful person in
Indonesia. On March 16, 2002, the Jakarta Post reported, “Efforts to salvage corruption