Boediono's possible impeachment not to affect economy

Economists say that an impeachment on Vice President Boediono as an implication of the Bank Century bailout will not produce any significant effect on the country’s economy.

“Boediono is not specifically assigned to handle economic policies. So, an impeachment on him will not significantly effect our economy,” an economist from the Institute for Development of Economic and Finance (INDEF) Iman Sugema said at the House of Regional Representatives Council (DPD) in Jakarta on Monday.

Iman further said that the lack of significance of the political landscape on the economy was because the major contributor towards the economic condition of the country was coming from its people, not from its governance.

“The government only contributes around 20 percent to the economy, while almost 80 percent ofcontribution comes from the people,” he said.

Also speaking at the Council was an economist from the Center for Information and Development Studies (CIDES) Umar Juoro, who said that he also believed potential political conflict in the future would not produce any significant effect on the economy and investment.

Commenting on the economists’ remarks, Council chairman Irman Gusman said that their statements had shown that the people of Indonesia had developed a strong immunity to the political conflicts of the elite.

Boediono has been deemed as one of the individuals who is most responsible concerning the Bank Century bailout, which ballooned ten times to Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million) from its original estimate.

The Vice President authorized the bailout in November 2008, the time when he was the then Bank Indonesia governor, along with Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.

Speculations have been rife that Boediono could face possible impeachment after the House of Representatives said in its final recommendations that all individuals responsible for the bailout must be legally processed as soon as possible by all law enforcement institutions, which include the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the police and the Attorney General’s Office (AGO).

People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) speaker Taufik Kiemas from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), however, said that he  felt that there was no need for an impeachment.

“The cost will be too expensive,” he said.