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KPK quizzes VP at State Guest House
The antigraft body on Thursday questioned Vice President Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati in connection with the controversial 2008 Rp 6
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he antigraft body on Thursday questioned Vice President Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati in connection with the controversial 2008 Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million) bailout of Bank Century.
Four investigators from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) paid a call to the State Palace to quiz Boediono, who legislators say is one of those responsible for the bailout during his tenure as the governor of Bank Indonesia.
Investigators initially arrived at the vice presidential office to find Boediono was not there, kompas.com reported.
The questioning, which started at 2 p.m. and lasted about six hours, eventually took place at the State Guest House within the presidential office complex.
“The location of the questioning was chosen for efficiency since Pak Boediono has a tight schedule ... this morning,” vice presidential spokesman Yopie Hidayat told The Jakarta Post.
He said Boediono answered all of the investigators’ questions as clearly as possible.
Many journalists, who had waited hours at the vice presidential office to cover the event, were disappointed to find the questioning had been moved to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s office.
Three KPK investigators also questioned Minister Mulyani for two and a half hours in the morning at her office.
The questioning revolved around “the background of recent global financial crisis and the issuance of the regulation-in-lieu-of-law” on the financial system safety net, she said.
Mulyani refused to comment further on the questioning session.
She also did not remember how many questions were raised by the KPK investigators.
Asked whether she would be questioned again by the KPK, Mulyani, who was formerly chairwoman of the Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK) only said, “We’ll see”.
The House of Representatives holds Boediono and Mulyani responsible for the Bank Century bailout in November 2008, which increased tenfold from its original estimate.
The House deemed the bailout to be flawed and recommended that those responsible for the policy be legally processed.
A number of legislators and activists lamented the antigraft body’s move to quiz Boediono and Mulyani in their respective offices and not at the KPK headquarters.
The lawmakers said the KPK had set a bad precedent for failing to summon the two officials for questioning at the antigraft commission’s office.
“In terms of norms, they can be quizzed at their respective offices, however, this case has come under the public spotlight and therefore it would have been better if they had come to the KPK,” commission deputy chairman Azis Syamsudin from the Golkar Party told reporters on Thursday.
A member of the commission, Syarifudin Suding from the People’s Conscience Party (Hanura), said the KPK had jeopardized its integrity following its decision to visit Boediono and Mulyani for the questioning.
Dozens of activists from the People’s Solidarity for Anti-Corruption (Sorak) staged a rally in front of the vice presidential office to pro-test against the KPK’s decision to not question Boediono at the headquarters.
They accused the KPK of granting Boediono and Mulyani special treatment by sending investigators to their offices.
