T

he lobby at the Finance Ministry building was unusually crowded on Monday when around 50 journalists jostled for an opportunity to speak with Sri Mulyani Indrawati on her first visit to her former office after she became a World Bank managing director last year.

The 48-year-old Sri Mulyani, who some observers have touted may run for president in the 2014 election, was scheduled to meet Finance Ministry officials in preparation for the upcoming ASEAN Finance Ministers’ Investor Seminar (AFMIS), scheduled for Tuesday.

Apparently hoping to avoid the media, Sri Mulyani used the ministry’s basement entrance, but her arrival was still noticed.

“You all look happier,” she said

No questions were raised as she shook hands with journalists while approaching the elevator, but everyone there had that mighty question on their lips: “Will you be running for the 2014 presidential election?”

After the two-hour meeting, the question was eventually raised, but again there was no reply — just a smile.

Earlier this year, a political party named after her, SRI (an acronym for the Union of Independent People), officially announced its support for Sri Mulyani — widely respected for her tough approach to graft at the Finance Ministry, which manages trillions of rupiah in state funds.

Recent local polls have proposed Mulyani as a potential presidential candidate, alongside Golkar party chairman Aburizal Bakrie and general-cum-businessman Prabowo Subianto of the Gerindra Party.

Other than her tough leadership heading the Finance and Coordinating Economic Ministries, Mulyani captured much public attention after she accepted the prestigious World Bank post, with speculation that the move was a non-negotiable order from Yudhoyono.

This is Sri Mulyani’s second high-profile visit to Indonesia, the first was in Bali earlier this year for the 15th ASEAN Finance Ministers’ Meeting, at which she also declined to comment on the presidential bid issue.

On Monday, Sri Mulyani chose to answer only economics-related questions. “[The meeting] discussed general conditions and issues faced by Indonesia compared to other countries as I just traveled to various places.”

At the World Bank, Sri Mulyani oversees emerging economies in Latin America and the Caribbean, East Asia and the Pacific, and the Middle East and North Africa.

“So we exchanged ideas about strategic policies adopted by the Indonesian government in the context of the developing situation,” she said.

Sri Mulyani will speak at the one-day AFMIS, to be held at the Shangri-La Hotel on Tuesday, an event she said was “an important opportunity”.

“Global conditions have placed ASEAN as a region that is expected to keep itself away from the impacts of global crisis. But mitigation needs a lot of efforts. That’s why I invite fellow journalists to listen to my [AFMIS] speech,” she said.

—JP/ Esther Samboh