Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) — Former Indonesian President Suharto,
who led the worlds most populous Muslim nation for 32 years, is
now less dependent on a respirator as his condition improves,
doctors said today.
“Suharto is now responsive, he can recognize family
members, said Christian Johannes, a doctor treating Suharto.
“If days ago the breathing machine was doing most of the
breathing, now Bapak is doing the bigger share. Bapak is a
respectful term for an older man in Indonesian.
The medical team will conduct tests today to measure the
electrical impulses of the former leaders lung muscles, Mardjo
Soebiandono, the head of Suhartos medical team, said at a
briefing in Jakarta, adding doctors are “optimistic.
Suhartos condition has fluctuated since he was admitted to
Pertamina Hospital in south Jakarta two weeks ago. Indonesias
second president was forced to resign after student-led protests
in May 1998, a year after the Asian financial crisis led to an
economic slump in the nation.
There is now little chance another infection attacking the
former leaders body may lead to sepsis, or systematic
inflammatory response syndrome, Ari Haryanto Reksodiputro,
another doctor treating Suharto, said today. Sepsis occurs when
the body mounts a strong immune response to bacteria or other
toxins and ends up damaging its own organs.
The former president had corruption charges against him
dropped in 2006 on health grounds. He is fighting civil cases
for alleged misappropriation of funds. The government on Jan. 12
proposed an out-of-court settlement to the civil lawsuits, an
offer Suhartos family rejected.
Suharto is alleged to have taken as much as $35 billion,
averaging 1.3 percent a year of Indonesias gross domestic
product, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime. Suhartos lawyer Mohammad Assegaf has said the UN report
is “nonsense.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Naila Firdausi in Jakarta at
