Jakarta, Wed, 02/03/2010 10:05 AM
The move to impeach President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has taken another hit as the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the largest opposition bloc, says it has not found any evidence to implicate him in connection with the Bank Century bailout.
“We have no plans to go ahead with the impeachment. However, if new facts surface, then [impeachment] will be decided by a House plenary session, not only us,” PDI-P legislator Gayus Lumbuun, who is also a deputy chairman of the House of Representatives’ Bank Century inquiry committee, told a press conference Tuesday.
The PDI-P’s stance is in contrast to that of the Greater Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), the second largest opposition camp at the House. A number of legislators from Gerindra said Monday the inquiry had found more than enough evidence to begin impeachment proceedings.
PDI-P legislators on the committee — Maruarar Sirait, Hendrawan Supratikno, Ganjar Pranowo, and Eva Kusuma Sundari — said impeachment could only take place as a legal consequence for a violation of the law.
“Our job in the committee is to decide whether there was a violation of the law, and if so, who was responsible?” Maruarar said.
Hendrawan said his party had so far found 45 violations involving four state institutions in the bailout process: Bank Indonesia, the Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK), the Coordination Committee (KK), and the Deposit Insurance Agency (LPS).
A Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) preliminary audit suggested that BI was not prudent in authorizing the merger.
The KSSK authorized the bailout for Bank Century in November 2008, which was endorsed by Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati in her capacity as then KSSK chairwoman and then BI governor, Boediono, now Vice President.
The bailout amount eventually ballooned to Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million), almost 11 times the original estimate.
On Nov. 21, 2008, the KSSK authorized the KK to order the LPS to take over the bank and inject fresh funds. However, legislators questioned the legality of the KK as the BPK audit concluded that the KK ceased to exist when the government issued a regulation-in-lieu-of-law on the financial safety net in October 2008.
Some critics speculate the bailout funds may have been channeled to Yudhoyono’s campaign team and inner circle, an allegation the President has denied.
Ganjar said although the PDI-P had named the institutions it saw as responsible for the case, it would not identify any individual to prevent a “political contraction”.
“Impeachment is only possible if there are strong indications of a breach of law. So far, we haven’t seen any indications,” he said.
Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) chairman Mustafa Kamal said Gerindra’s move to seek impeachment was “daydreaming”.
National Awakening Party (PKB) legislator Effendi Choirie said that, realistically speaking, the only individuals that could be impeached were be Boediono and Mulyani.
Yahya Secawiria, the deputy chairman of the inquiry committee, said that within the next few weeks, the committee would start sending its members to several regions to track down the disbursement of the bailout funds. (Hans David Tampobolon , The Jakarta Post.)