Vice President Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani may find themselves in the hot seat for their alleged decision-making mistake concerning the Bank Century debacle.
But public support grows.
Boediono and Mulyani are considered the most responsible regarding the decision to bail out the ailing bank at a meeting they led in November last year. Boediono was Bank Indonesia governor when the bailout, said to have cost the country Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million), was issued.
Their key role in the bailout was shown in an audit report on the debacle from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) submitted to the House of Representatives late last month. Pressure grew for Boediono and Mulyani to resign.
The Association of Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals (ICMI), however, said Wednesday that it was not fair the public judge Boediono and Sri Mulyani guilty prematurely, and they should be given a chance to present their argument.
“ICMI agrees that the debacle must be properly probed,” ICMI presidium chairman Azyumardi Azra said. “But it’s important to maintain the presumption of innocence.
“ICMI does not endorse that [Boediono and Mulyani] resign, unless there is evidence to prove they are guilty.”
Boediono and Mulyani insisted that salvaging Bank Century helped prevent a potential Indonesian banking-system meltdown.
Meanwhile, support for Boediono and Mulyani came from a group of professionals from various fields such as economists and former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leaders.
Professionals rallied in front of the Indonesia Stock Exchange in Jakarta on Wednesday.
An economist from the University of Indonesia, Faisal Basri, told kompas.com the investigation into the Bank Century debacle had deviated from its original proportional purpose and had caused unrest and public confusion.
“Confusion has the potential to disturb the country’s economy,” he said.
In a separate development on the Bank Century investigation, Attorney General Hendarman Supandji said the Attorney General’s Office would attend a joint case exposé with other law enforcers, the KPK and the National Police.
“While the KPK will investigate potential accounts of graft, we will concentrate on pursuing the bank owner’s assets that are reportedly stored in several different countries,” he said.
Hendarman said the assets were worth around Rp 12 trillion.
He said they were stored in Hong Kong and the exposé was organized to follow up the BPK’s earlier announcement that it had found indication of violations that might reveal more information about the Bank Century scandal.
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