Goff puts tactful spin on Wiranto candidacy

By AUDREY YOUNG

Foreign Minister Phil Goff drew on his diplomatic skills yesterday after hearing that former Indonesian general Wiranto is to stand in the country's presidential elections in July for the major party, Golkar.

He found a way of criticising him without criticising him, saying that to do so would be counter-productive.

But he said New Zealand backed the concept of a truth commission to "name and shame" those responsible for the atrocities carried out in East Timor in 1999.

Asked if he thought Mr Wiranto would be one of those named and shamed he said: "It would be an inquiry by independent, well-informed and objective people and they would tell the facts as they saw it and as the evidence demonstrated."

General Wiranto was head of the armed forces in 1999 at the time of the East Timor independence vote when more than 1000 people were killed by Indonesian soldiers or militia linked to them.

He attained notoriety at the time not only for the deaths but for having hosted a dinner of Jakarta military at which he broke into a karaoke rendition of Feelings.

Asked to comment on General Wiranto's nomination, Mr Goff said: "Any comments coming from outside the country as to the merits of one or other of the aspirants generally are resented by the people in the country concerned as being interference and therefore are likely to be counter-productive if the point of the comment was to be critical of the candidate.

"For those reasons I will simply keep my counsel to myself on that issue."

Mr Wiranto is one of eight senior officers who have been charged by a UN-funded Serious Crimes Unit with directing crimes against humanity during the bloodbath in Dili, East Timor.

The UN is considering an international tribunal to look at human rights abuses in East Timor, but Mr Goff did not think it would get Security Council backing.

The election on July 5 will be the first direct presidential elections held by the world's largest Muslim country.