Golkar politician sets up independent team on Century debacle

A senior politician from the Golkar Party has established an independent team to get to the bottom of the Bank Century debacle, which is said to have cost the country Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716.6 million).

“The team will be called ‘Team-9 plus’. It will be responsible for fully monitoring the Bank Century inquiry committee at the House of Representatives,” Zaenal Bintang told The Jakarta Post in Jakarta on Friday.

Team-9 refers to the nine House legislators who initiated the inquiry and sought moral support from the nation’s leading figures.
 
“This team will open a command post, so that people can directly report their findings on the scandal,” Zaenal said.

The House inquiry committee looks set to name Golkar lawmaker Idrus Marham, a close confidant of Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie, the chairman. But lawmakers initiating the political move resist his candidacy saying he was not among the initiators.

Desmon Mahesa of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) suspected that an Idrus-led committee would only make Finance Minister Sri Mulyani a scapegoat.