Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati finally decided to air her grievances with her old Cabinet
colleague and Golkar chairman, Aburizal Bakrie, a former chief welfare minister.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Mulyani said she believed the Bank Century bailout debacle being probed by the House of Representatives’ inquiry committee was an attempt to discredit her by politicians that oppose her reform agenda, notably leaders of the Golkar Party, including Aburizal.
“Aburizal Bakrie is not happy with me, I’m not expecting anyone in Golkar to be fair or kind to me [during the inquiry],” she said the committee chairman is one of Aburizal’s closest aides, Idrus Marham.
Mulyani’s first open statement on Aburizal immediately sparked a reaction from Golkar’s leaders, with Idrus quickly announcing he had received evidence that Mulyani’s decision to bail out the bank was unlawful. In the interview, Mulyani said the tension between her and Aburizal could be traced back to last year. At the time, Mulyani opposed Aburizal’s call for the closure of the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) to halt a nosedive in shares of Bumi Resources, partly owned by Aburizal.
Mulyani also last year imposed a travel ban on a number of coal mining executives, including some from Aburizal’s companies, after a dispute over the companies’ reluctance to pay government fees. In the interview, Mulyani again defended the Bank Century bailout, saying she did the “right thing for the country”.
Mulyani and Vice President Boediono are considered by many as those responsible for the bailout scandal which ended up costing the state Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716.56 million), a price tag which ended up being a lot higher than the Rp 1.3 trillion agreed on by the House.
Your comments:
Should Sri survive this, she’ll come out stronger and I would expect her to be the next President.
Iain
Jakarta
Aburizal Bakrie is one of the most greedy, hypocritical and dangerous politician/businessman in Indonesia.
I wish all the best to Sri Mulyani. Politics in Indonesia is so nasty. She will get lots of attacks from people like Bakrie.
I just hope that she has the strength to deal with it.
Helena van der Winden
Jakarta
I think Sri Mulyani and Boediono were too confident when they bailed out Century.
They should have been prudent and carefully reconsidered before dispersing public money. Economic justification and legal aspects should both be considered carefully.
Sri Mulyani added to current problems by blaming another people. I don’t understand how credible she is?
Mary
Jakarta
I strongly believe politics in Indonesia have been creating many disincentives for economic growth!
Instead of fighting for the sake and prosperity of this nation, they fight for their own interests.
Practitioners construct strategies and policies to create improvements, but politicians merely ruin them.
Bad Bone
Durham, UK
Personal vendettas by proxy, a bank saved because its governor was a national symbol. Just another day on the check desk.
Jack Chaves
Jakarta
It will be hard to believe if Mulyani and Boediono are part of this scenario. However, it may be true that their credibility has been ruined by some opportunists, the Indonesia politicians, who are driven by power and money.
Mulyani and Boediono might have made an unpopular decision, but I believe they have never
been tempted by any such motivations. Their dedication is truly to the country.
Noval
Melbourne
