Jusuf Kalla denies sour relations with Yudhoyono

Adianto P. Simamora ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sat, 03/29/2008 1:40 AM  |  Headlines

Vice President Jusuf Kalla has denied any strained relations with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono over the House’s rejection of the President’s central bank governor candidates.

“It is merely a rumor. There are political dynamics happening, which the President can understand,” Kalla said here Friday.  

“But there is no strain in my relations with the President.”

At a plenary meeting last week, the House of Representatives rejected the President’s two nominees, Bank Mandiri president director Agus Martowardojo and PT Perusahaan Pengelola Aset vice president Raden Pardede, to replace Bank Indonesia Governor Burhanuddin Abdullah, whose term ends May 17.   

The two names were submitted by the government, but analysts said the two, Agus in particular, were Yudhoyono’s choices.

The House rejected the nominations while the President was on a 10-day state visit to Iran, Senegal and South Africa.

During the House plenary meeting, only three factions — Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party, the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) — agreed to accept both Agus and Raden.

The Golkar Party, which Kalla chairs and which initially supported Agus, backed off and rejected both candidates.

Golkar controls the most seats in the 550-seat House.

Rumors of strained ties surfaced when Kalla was not present to greet the President at Halim
Perdanakusuma air base on March 20 when he returned from his state visit.

Kompas daily quoted a source as saying Yudhoyono was disappointed that Kalla had not
done enough to secure approval for the BI governor candidates at the House.

The source said the President ordered Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi to ensure that Kalla was not among senior officials greeting him at the air base.

Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng denied this claim.

From the airport, the President and First Lady Any Yudhoyono went directly to their residence in Cikeas, Bogor, south of Jakarta.

Kalla said Friday his absence at the airport was due to a new policy in the Presidential Office.

“It is simply because of changes to the protocol policy,” he said.

He also said it was not the first time he had not met the President on his return from abroad.

“As far as I remember, there have been four times I have not met the President on his return from overseas visits,” the Vice President said.

Kalla said he had held four meetings with the President in the last three days.

Yudhoyono is in the process of selecting new Bank Indonesia governor candidates to be submitted to the House.

Kalla acknowledged the selection of central bank governor candidates was fraught with political pitfalls.

The Vice President, however, said he was upbeat the House would accept the government’s new candidates since the President had involved a number of economists, former BI governors and media people to seek “acceptable” figures.

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