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Jakarta Post

Public urge SBY to make Mulyani stay

Activists are demanding that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono prevent former finance minister Sri Mulyani from leaving the country before her legal status related to the Bank Century bailout is determined

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Mon, May 24, 2010

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Public urge SBY to make Mulyani stay

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ctivists are demanding that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono prevent former finance minister Sri Mulyani from leaving the country before her legal status related to the Bank Century bailout is determined.

They have also called the "civil society" to block access to the airport on the day Mulyani leaves Indonesia.

Mulyani will leave for Washington, DC, the US, on May 26 to begin her position as a World Bank managing director.

A member of Petition 28, Haris Rusly, said Sunday that if the President allowed Mulyani to leave, it would be a bad precedent for the country's law enforcement and corruption eradication efforts.

"If the President allows Mulyani to leave, it will show his hypocrisy," he told a seminar at cafe Bakoel Koffie in Jakarta.

Haris said that the main duty of Yudhoyono was to ensure that the law enforcement process worked in accordance with the Constitution. He continued that if Yudhoyono allowed Mulyani to leave before the investigation of Bank Century was finished, the President would be violating the mandate of the Constitution.

"The Supreme Audit Agency investigation found indications of the misuse of power in the bailout. Mulyani should be investigated first," he said.

Politicians in the House of Representatives have reportedly used the bailout issue to topple Mulyani from her post as finance minister, alleging her and Vice President Boediono of recklessness for approving the Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million) bailout at the height of the global financial crisis in 2008.

In December 2009, the House set up a special committee to investigate the circumstances of the bailout, particularly the roles Mulyani and Boediono played.

The House plenary session in March ordered law enforcement agencies to investigate the bailout and people who were allegedly involved in it. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) questioned Mulyani and Boediono on April 29.

However, the demand to investigate the bailout from the House and political parties has significantly decreased following Mulyani's resignation and the establishment of the coalition parties' joint secretariat, led by the Golkar Party Chairman Aburizal Bakrie.

"The joint secretariat was set up to close the Bank Century case," Haris claimed.

Another member of Petition 28, Masinton Pasaribu, said that the establishment of the joint secretariat was only one out of four possible solutions to close the Bank Century case.

He said that the first solution was the demoralization of the House inquiry committee on Bank Century by criminalizing a member of the committee, Prosperous Justice Party lawmaker (PKS) Muhammad Misbakhun, for allegedly being involved in a fake letter of credit case issued by the bank in 2007.

"The second scenario is the establishment of the join secretariat. The next scenario is it weaken the KPK's authority. The last scenario is it oust Sri Mulyani abroad," Masinton said.

He suggested that civil society element members block the highway to the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport by burning tires to prevent Sri Mulyani from leaving the country on May 26. (rdf)

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