WAHID: We’re making progress. According to the police report, those behind the bombings appear to be people out to destabilize me, but so far there’s no legal proof [of who might have planned the crimes].
I received a message from [former major general] Prabowo [Suharto’s son-in-law and former head of Indonesia’s Special Forces]. He was very upset that his name was mentioned in the police report. If that’s so, he said, it should be proven. The police report also mentioned the name of former Army chief-of-staff Gen. R. Hartono. This only means the police will investigate, and if they find proof they will detain anybody who’s involved.
No, no. The people calling for my resignation are just trying to create a political crisis. [They] include those who are afraid we’ll expose their past mistakes.
We’ll do that. At the end of this month, 64 people will get notification from the court [that they’ll be tried] for economic crimes. We’ve gathered evidence. It’s already in our hands.
Maybe you won’t believe it, but he lives in the house of a former general. We know exactly where the house is. The problem is having enough evidence for the police to act. They will when the time is right.
But for the police it’s different–they need very strong evidence. [The people supporting Tommy] are very powerful, too powerful.
No, no. [He laughs.]
Tommy was found but not detained. The officer who found him was duped by Tommy. I’m confident that within two months we will have him. The fact that he’s hiding shows the strength of my government [because] he was the son of a president.
They are committing crimes, and we have to tackle the problem. Some terrible things happened in the past. We are disbanding [the extremist groups].
Its not a matter of being afraid or not afraid. It’s a matter of [obtaining] legal evidence.
The police are undermanned. You may not know it, but the police mobile brigade–25,000 of them–have only 12,000 guns. One gun for two persons. It’s crazy. Our armed forces and police were used by previous officers, who took all the money and didn’t buy enough weapons. We find all these difficulties now. No money, no weapons, no nothing. Our police don’t even have patrol boats for the whole of east Indonesia.
No, they are very small in number, though very active.
Even if there is an end to the [truce] we will continue the dialogue. The problem is not the military but people who are former military. About 200 of them are roaming around Aceh. We have their names and are trying to go after them.
It’s unfair to criticize the institution. We criticize some individuals, but not the Army.
We can be sure that military cooperation will continue, because we’ve already talked with U.S. officials. Of course, it depends on Congress as well.
Harry Truman. He was an ordinary man who was catapulted into the presidency, and he proved able to do the job. Firing MacArthur wasn’t easy.
It happened, but I didn’t believe it. My political enemies try to portray me as a believer in those things. I defend the right of people to believe in the supernatural. But I myself always use logic. I would not gauge my political calculations on a dream.
Oh yes, because I have to communicate with all kinds of people [including] those who believe in dreams.
No, it’s not too much. I do things in a joking and unconventional way. And I try to garner information from as many people as possible. People who criticize me say it’s a sign of weakness. Sometimes I cancel my previous opinion, and [then] people accuse me of waffling. I say you have to listen to what people say.
It’s a job, that’s all. I feel bitterness against nobody. Maybe I’m a nut, but I believe in a positive approach to life.
