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View all search resultsThe row over Rp 349 million in suspicious transactions will go nowhere
Lawmakers tried hard to grill and pressure Mahfud MD, the former Constitutional Court chief justice, but they were hardly supported by convincing evidence.
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Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD (right) and Financial Transactions Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) chairman Ivan Yustiavandana (left) attend a hearing before House of Representatives Commission III overseeing law and human rights, in Senayan, South Jakarta, on March 29, 2023. The hearing heated up after Mahfud said that certain unnamed legislators had allegedly intervened in major investigations by the Attorney General’s Office. (Antara/Rivan Awal Lingga)
Kornelius Purba
The House of Representatives members have vehemently sworn that nothing could stop them from hunting down those responsible for the suspicious Rp 349 trillion (US$23 billion) government transactions in the last 14 years. But in reality, it will depend on their respective party leaders on what to do about the scandals. The problem is the big bosses will find it difficult in proving they or their parties had nothing to do with the transactions. So?
Many of the politicians have talked tough about the suspicious transfers and threatened to take action against government officials, including those at the Finance Ministry’s Directorate General of Taxation and Directorate General of Customs and Excise. Some have pointed their fingers at Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.
But their motives are probably not as noble as it seems. I suspect it is more an act of bluffing rather than an act of statesmanship.
Indeed, those politicians need a podium to show to the public they deserve another term in the February 2024 elections. They will need huge funds to cover their campaign spending. You should know better than me how politicians accumulate money to win reelection.
During a hearing on March 29 with Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD, who broke the news about the doubtful transactions, members of House Commission III overseeing legal, human rights and security affairs, such as Arteria Dahlan and Benny Harman, implicitly tried to look down on Mahfud.
But Mahfud sternly told the seasoned politicians, “You can sham me, I can sham you too.”
