House endorses Bank Century inquiry committee

The House of Representatives endorsed the Bank Century inquiry committee, which will have the full legal right to investigate the bank's scandalous bailout, said to have cost Rp 6.7 trillion (US$710 million) of taxpayers' money, during a plenary session here Tuesday.

Some 30 legislators will be involved in the committee, with the Democratic Party the dominant party, having eight of its legislators on the committee.

Now the committee is endorsed, the next item on the agenda is to fill its leadership post and to name its members.

Effendi Simbolon from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said the committee’s leader had to be from his party, because its legislators were the earliest initiators of the committee.

After the plenary session, a number of the initiators from the PDI-P, the National Mandate Party (PAN), the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), and the Golkar Party, were greeted by a number of anti-graft activists, who gave them flowers as a show of support for the committee.

Maruarar promised the committee would do its best to do its job.

"We want to be tightly monitored, and every single hearing will be open to the public," he said.