Prabowo's men told to stop ruining good relationship with SBY

A legislator from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, Ruhut Sitompul, urges fellow legislators at the Greater Indonesian Movement Party (Gerindra) to stop trying to ruin the President's good relationship with Gerindra's boss Prabowo Subianto by raising the impeachment issue.

 "Our faction truly respects Prabowo and that's why the relationship between SBY and him is very good. For that, Prabowo's men must stop dreaming about impeachment," he told reporters at the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Prabowo is Gerindra's chief patron, while Yudhoyono is the chief patron of the Democratic Party.

A number of Gerindra legislators said Monday that the investigation results on the Bank Century bailout case were more than enough to implicate Yudhoyono with impeachment.

Speculations about a possible impeachment on Yudhoyono are rife after the investigation on the bailout case by an inquiry committee at the House is about to reach its finale.

The authority of the bailout, which was issued in November 2008 and rose 10 times higher to Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million) from its original estimation, was in the hands of Finance Minister Sri Mulyani and the then Bank Indonesia governor, Boediono, who is now vice president.

Mulyani and Boediono had said that the President knew about the bailout and also insisted that their policy was the right one for the country in the midst of the global crisis.

Speculations are also rife that the bailout fund might have been disbursed into the accounts of Yudhoyono's presidential campaign team members.

Yudhoyono and his Democratic Party have rejected the speculations and have also urged the case to be resolved as soon as possible.