Muhammad Nazaruddin, a graft fugitive who arrived Saturday Aug. 13 from Colombia, South America, after being hunted by Interpol since May 23, is actually an ordinary graft suspect. He is very much the same as fugitive Nunun Nurbaeti, a suspect in a bribery case of the selection of a Bank Indonesia senior deputy governor in 2004.
As time goes on, where during her escape Nunun managed to evade the law and decided to be silent (and therefore successfully managed to fall off the media radar screen), Nazaruddin has contrarily become a unique fugitive who has not only made sensational headlines, but has also dragged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and important men in the Democratic Party (PD) into the chaotic situation.
Nazaruddin continuously interacted with the media via BlackBerry Messenger and actively launched accusations implicating several party elites in the graft scandal of the construction of the athlete’s dormitory project for the 2011 Sea Games in Palembang, which he is also linked to.
The accusation through the BlackBerry Messenger forced President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to hold a press conference countering the accusations.
Yudhoyono even blamed the press for not being objective by only using the BlackBerry as a source of information. Yudhoyono said that “invisible hands” had spread text messages containing libelous statements and false allegations with the intention of ruining the Democratic Party’s reputation.
However, people were amazed several days later when Nazaruddin suddenly showed up via Skype in an interview with journalist Iwan Piliang from his hideout, where he blatantly accused Democratic Party chairman, Anas Urbaningrum, as the man behind the screen over allegations of many illicit deals, including money politics behind his election as party chairman as well as several government projects.
For his outspoken behavior, Nazaruddin had become Indonesia’s most wanted fugitive, for which the President ordered our National Police to cooperate with Interpol in hunting him down and bringing him back home.
Perhaps we should raise the question about whether the seriousness of the hunt for Nazaruddin was because the government is eager to uphold the law, or because Nazaruddin is a very important person — a man who knows too much.
When he was still active as the party treasurer, he was the one who managed the party cash flow. In politics, money is too hot. It is used to ignite issues. Nazaruddin is a key figure capable of telling stories about the money.
Now Nazaruddin has been captured and handcuffed, but he is still a “wild pitch” whereby no one can predict which direction the ball may roll.
I am sure people will be divided by the separated line: those who believe that he is a complete scoundrel, liar and crooked politician, and those who believe that he will run over the real scoundrels, liars and crooked politicians.
No scoundrel is so stupid as to not find a reason for his vile conduct. Let’s see what will happen in the coming days.
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Serpong, 14 August 2011
Titus J.
