In the middle of the heated debate over the legality of the Bank Century bailout, legal experts have suggested that an out of court settlement may be the most probable scenario due to the politically charged nature of the case.
Bambang Purnomo, a widely known expert on law from Gadjah Mada University (UGM), said Indonesia’s legal system may not have the capacity to handle “cases with extra high complexity” such as that of the bailout inquiry.
The complex legality used to bail out Century revolves around conflicting provisions and legal terminology used by the government in saving the bank from collapse back in November 2008. An investigative audit by the BPK has confirmed that there were “legal irregularities” in the decision to bail out Century.
The Century case has expanded the investigation to involve investigators from five institutions: the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the National Police, the Attorney General’s Office, the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) and the Financial Transactions Report and Analysis Center (PPATK).
The House of Representatives has also launched a special inquiry into the bailout, involving 30 lawmakers and 24 legal and economic experts. The House will begin its first hearing into the inquiry on Wednesday.
On the political front, the case has been adopted by elements interested in removing Vice President Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati from power as they were both responsible for the decision to bailout the ailing bank in November last year when the former was Bank Indonesia governor.
“In the wider legal perspective, the most important [outcome] of a legal dispute is to keep the country from disharmony or conflict,” Bambang said in a seminar on Tuesday.
He argued that Indonesia’s law enforcement history shows that cases such as the Century bailout, which involves so many vested interests, had the potential to raise divisions and public uprising.
Also speaking at the seminar, former National Police chief Gen. (ret) Chairuddin Ismail said the legal investigation into the Bank Century case would be distorted if law enforcers and other authorities were bogged down in legal formalities.
“The reality of law enforcement is sometimes not in line with theory. In the Century case legal investigators would likely be trapped by legal procedures which would never satisfy the political and social appeals over the case,” the senior lecturer of the Institute of Police Science (PTIK) said.
Before the Century case becomes uncontrollable, Bambang said, relevant stakeholders must be able to “negotiate a settlement.”
Chairuddin added that if an uprising occurred, law enforcers would in most cases “do nothing but accept what the public wants.” (bbs)
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