House urges police to summon Mulyani, Boediono

Members of the House of Representatives monitoring team on the Bank Century bailout case are demanding that the National Police take more concrete measures against those allegedly responsible for issuing the bailout.

Gayus Lumbuun from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said the police should summon former finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati for questioning as soon as possible.

“Why has Ibu Sri Mulyani not been investigated by the police on banking crime and money laundering allegations?” Gayus asked National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri during a meeting at the House in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Gayus said the investigation of Mulyani was important, because she once said she felt as if she was fooled by Bank Indonesia officials when she decided to authorized the bailout, that subsequently increased tenfold to Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million).

Previously, Bambang Soesatyo from the Golkar Party, said he deemed the police were being half-hearted in investigating the case because they had not yet summoned high-ranking officials at Bank Indonesia and the finance ministry during their investigation.

Today is the second meeting between the team and the police. The previous meeting ended prematurely because the team deemed the police used the wrong reference in investigating the case.

The police reference said the bailout policy was not flawed, while the House had officially stated in early March that it was, and that legal measures should be taken against those responsible by the police, the Attorney General's Office (AGO), and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

The bailout was authorized in November 2008 by the then Bank Indonesia governor, Boediono, now vice president, and Mulyani.

Both Boediono and Mulyani said what they did was to salvage the country's banking sector amidst the global financial crisis.