PDI-P wants Mulyani to sing louder

Farewell talk: Outgoing Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati addresses an audience at her almamater, the School of Economics, the University of Indonesia, on Wednesday. Mulyani is scheduled to leave for Washington on May 26, to take up a position as the World Bank's managing director. Antara/Prasetyo Utomo

In a rare move, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politicians applaud Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati’s latest speech, which indicates a possible politicking behind the Bank Century bailout case.
 
The speech was addressed by Mulyani during a lecture on public policy at Ritz Carlton Hotel in Jakarta on Tuesday night.
 
Mulyani said the country’s political system had clearly did not want her anymore and therefore she regarded it would be better for her to resign from her post and to take the new job given to her as one of the World Bank’s managing directors.
 
“The public is now waiting eagerly for Sri Mulyani to reveal more. What she said unraveled the suspicions growing in the public that there has been a political turbulence on her that left her no choice,” PDI-P senior politician Pramono Anung told reporters on Wednesday.
 
PDI-P legislator Hendrawan Supratikno said he would propose his party to officially invite Mulyani for an all-out revelation of what really happened behind her resignation and the Bank Century case.
 
Many experts believe that Mulyani’s resignation was part of a deal between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Golkar Party, whose chairman Aburizal Bakrie allegedly loathes Mulyani for her strict policies that once put negative implications on Bakrie’s business empire.
 
Mulyani was then put on a hot seat for her alleged involvement in the Bank Century case, which revolves around a bailout that ten folded to Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million).
 
Hendrawan also added that Mulyani clearly pointed her finger to both Yudhoyono and Aburizal when she said that there was a “same sex” political marriage that gave birth to a conflicting political system and forced her to resign.
 
“Her speech clearly refers to them [Yudhoyono and Aburizal]. One of them needs economic resources, while the other needs political protection on his businesses,” he said.