The military and police faction in the Indonesian parliament Thursday accepted with qualifications a damaging report that could lead to moves to impeach embattled President Abdurrahman Wahid.
"The military and police faction suggests that the case be followed up fairly and wisely in accordance with existing procedures," military spokesman Ignatius Mulyono told a parliament session.
A parliamentary commission probe has found Wahid "could be suspected of playing a role" in the so-called Bulogate scandal and that there were "inconsistencies" in his explanation of the other scandal, known as Bruneigate.
The two scandals involve a combined total of almost six million dollars.
But Mulyono said his faction believed Wahid was not directly involved in Bulogate, saying none of the witnesses questioned had testified that Wahid ordered the disbursement of the embezzled money.
Bulogate centers around the theft of 35 billion rupiah (3.9 million dollars) from the state food distribution agency Bulog allegedly by Wahid's masseur.
"However we can understand suspicions that the president is involved because the recipients of the funds are people close to him," he said.
On the other scandal, Bruneigate, Mulyono added Wahid should have channeled the two-million dollar donation from the Sultan of Brunei for humanitarian aid in Aceh province through existing government agencies instead of treating it as a personal gift.
The probe has accused Wahid of "inconsistency" in explaining how he spent the Sultan's funds.
However, Mulyono said further steps were needed to prove Wahid's involvement in the scandals -- JAKARTA (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
