The Bank Century inquiry committee is questioning Vice President Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani on their decision to issue Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million) in bailouts.
The decision to summon Mulyani and Boediono was made during the first plenary meeting of the House of Representatives committee in Jakarta on Monday.
Mulyani and Boediono decided to salvage the bank during a meeting in November last year. During that time, Boediono was the Bank Indonesia governor.
Mulyani and Boediono said their motives were nothing more than to save the nation by preventing a possible systemic collapse of the country’s banking system by saving Bank Century during the global
financial crisis.
Economists and legislators at the House’s finance commission, however, have doubted their reasoning, citing that Bank Century was a small and insignificant bank. Legislators also questioned the bailout, because its amount was much higher than the amount agreed by the House, which ranged between Rp 600 billion and Rp 1 trillion.
An audit report from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), recently submitted to the House, also said there might have been a number of procedural violations conducted during the bailout process.
Along with Mulyani and Boediono, the 30-member inquiry committee will also summon a number of people deemed to know more information about the bailout.
One of the committee deputy chairmen, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle’s (PDI-P) Gayus Lumbuun, said former National Police detective chief Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, would also be summoned. Susno was heard in a wiretapped conversation by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to have allegedly asked for a Rp 10 billion bribe during the debacle.
Gayus also said that former vice president Jusuf Kalla would be summoned, because he was the acting president when the bailout was issued. During that time President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was abroad.
Despite determining the people and institutions that needed summoning, the committee has yet to determine the fixed schedule of the summoning.
“Our summons will be directed by the development of the investigation,” committee chairman Idrus Marham from the Golkar Party said.
The committee has currently only established a fixed meeting schedule with the BPK and the Financial Transaction Report and Analysis Center (PPATK).
“We are going to meet with the BPK on Wednesday, and PPATK on Thursday,” Idrus said.
The committee plans to discuss the people that need summoning and budgeting Tuesday.
During the hearing, there was also a debate on whether the committee’s future hearings should be made open to the public.
Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party, which has the most members in the committee, insisted that the meeting should be closed door.
However, other parties insisted the meetings be open to the public and the media. The committee agreed that all hearings and inquiries be made open, unless there were requests from certain witnesses. “But the final say will be made by committee members,” committee deputy chairman, Mahfudz Siddiq from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said.
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