PDI-P, Hanura walk out due to Mulyani's presence

: Finance Minister Sri Mulyani (JP)

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) walked out Monday of the House of Representatives plenary session on the 2010 state budget revision due to the presence of Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.

The parties officials said that they rejected Mulyani due to her alleged involvement in Bank Century
bailout case.

"Based on the House recommendations [on the bailout case], the PDI-P will never accept the presence of the Finance Minister," one of the PDI-p central board chairpersons, Puan Maharani, told reporters at
the House in Jakarta on Monday.

The House recommended early March that all the people allegedly involved in the bailout had to be legally processed.

The bailout suspiciously rose ten times to Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million) and it was authorized in November 2008 by Mulyani and the then Bank Indonesia governor, Boediono, now the vice president.

Puan said that it would be better for Mulyani to be temporarily inactive and that all meetings regarding the country's economic policies had to be attended by the coordinating minister for the economy.

Separately, a legislator from Hanura, Saleh Husin, said his party would also continuously respect the
House recommendations and reject Mulyani.

Prior to the walk out, one of the House deputy speakers, Anis Matta from the Prosperous Justice Party
(PKS), who led the plenary session, said that legislators should not reject Mulyani's presence because
she had been officially invited by the legislative body.