Mulyani refuses to comment on VP's speech

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati refused to comment on the speech made by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Boediono in response to the House of Representatives’ vote of no confidence.

"I will think about those speeches first, as today the Vice President made a speech and the President yesterday. I'm a good servant [of the President], I will think about them first," Mulyani said Friday at her office after returning from the Vice President's palace.

Vice President Boediono insists he will not step down despite mounting pressure that he resign due to his involvement in the decision to bail out Bank Century.

In a 20-minute speech at the vice presidential office, Boediono defended the bailout as a difficult decision that was made to save the country’s economy. He said his resignation would amount to defiance of the people’s mandate and Yudhoyono’s confidence.

On Wednesday, the House voted against a decision in November 2008 by Mulyani and Boediono, who was the then Bank Indonesia governor, to authorize the bailout that increased tenfold to Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million).

On Thursday, Yudhoyono officially said that he fully supported the decision to bail out the bank amid the uncertainty of the global economic crisis.