Nobody has yet accused Habibie himself. But after three scandal-scarred decades under his predecessor, Suharto, people here are in no mood to let an unpopular president off the hook. After watching Habibie make so many speeches about the rule of law, they realize the laws are not being upheld. Despite his claims of being different, this government is merely an extension of the Suharto government. Political analysts here said that the scandal had grievously wounded Habibie, who faces a tough election in November.
Indonesian officials say they can make do for a while.
But they agree that the country cannot fully recover from its economic trauma without a resumption of foreign aid. If they stop the support permanently, it would be a disaster for the economy. That Indonesia would risk such a disaster shows how difficult it is for the country to change. Despite demands that the government get to the bottom of things, it has refused to release a lengthy report on the scandal assembled by the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. They also said that the report tracked the flow of money from Indonesia's Bank Restructuring Agency, which had nationalized Bank Bali, into a web of accounts held by people with ties to Golkar.