Plans to prosecute former president Sohaerto for corruption "will be dropped", State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra said following a meeting late Wednesday at the Presidential office.
With doctors at the Pertamina Hospital reporting Soeharto's health was improving, a meeting took place between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla with People's Consultative Assembly Hidayat Nur Wahid, House of Representatives Speaker Agung Laksono, Regional Representative Council head Ginanjar Kartasasmita, Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan, Supreme Audit Agency chairman Anwar Nasution, Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh, Indonesian Military Commander Air Chief Marshal Djoko Suyanto, National Police chief Gen. Sutanto and several Cabinet members.
Speaking shortly before midnight, Yusril said the options regarding Soeharto included granting amnesty and halting all investigations into corruption charges.
While he had said those in attendance agreed the prosecution would be dropped, it is unclear whether the factions in the House will agree to drop the charges against Soeharto.
On Tuesday the attorney general insisted legal proceedings against the ailing former president would continue.
Earlier on Wednesday the People's Consultative Assembly demanded that Soeharto issue a public apology for the excesses of his regime and hand over all of his cash-rich charitable foundations to the state before authorities consider dropping corruption charges against the ailing former leader.
Assembly leaders made their demand Wednesday in response to the debate over whether the state should pursue corruption charges against Soeharto. He will turn 85 in June.
"The family of Pak Harto should hand over the management of the foundations to the state and an apology must be made for all the wrongdoings that he committed against the people of Indonesia," Assembly Speaker Hidayat said at a news conference.
Hidayat said that only after Soeharto met the demands set out by the Assembly leaders should President Yudhoyono or the House make a decision on the possibility of dropping corruption charges against the former leader.
"After these two conditions are met, the President or the House should reach a political breakthrough by drawing up a law to halt the graft probe into Soeharto," Hidayat said.
The speaker added that this law would not apply to Soeharto's family members and cronies.
Hidayat and his three deputy speakers, A.M. Fatwa of the National Mandate Party (PAN) and Moeryati Soedibyo and Aksa Mahmud of the Regional Representatives Council, met to discuss the possibility of scrapping a 1998 Assembly decree on corruption eradication.
The decree, endorsed only months after the 1998 fall of Soeharto, mandates a corruption eradication drive against state officials, former state officials, their families and cronies, including Soeharto.
The decree was issued when the Assembly was still the highest lawmaking body in the country. However, under the amended Constitution the Assembly is now on a par with other state bodies.
Given that position, the Assembly no longer has the authority to rescind the decree on its own, Hidayat said.
A number of politicians, including Vice President Jusuf Kalla and House Deputy Speaker Zainal Ma'arif, have spoken out against the prosecution of Soeharto because of his poor health.
Soeharto remains in intensive care at Pertamina Hospital after undergoing surgery to stop intestinal bleeding.
The former president also suffers from chronic heart, lung and kidney problems, and has suffered several mild strokes.
Soeharto and his family accumulated enormous amounts of wealth during his reign and built a massive rent-seeking network in the form of numerous nonprofit charity foundations.
There are now at least 40 foundations linked to Soeharto and his family, with the largest three being the Dharmais, Dakab and Supersemar foundations.
QUESTION OF SOEHARTO: People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Hidayat Nur Wahid (center), accompanied by deputy speakers Mooryati Soedibyo (left) and AM Fatwa, answers a question Wednesday about the Assembly's stance on proposals to end the prosecution of ailing former president Soeharto.
Taken from The Jakarta Post
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