Febriamy Hutapea & Muninggar Sri Saraswati

Indonesia Lawmakers Protest Sri Mulyani Golkar ‘Insult’

Opposition lawmakers reacted angrily on Thursday to Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati’s accusation that the House of Representatives harbored political reasons for probing the controversial bailout of PT Bank Century.

In an interview published in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Sri Mulyani raised concerns that the House probe was an attempt to discredit her. She also expressed doubts that the Golkar Party, which has been at the forefront in pushing for the investigation, would be fair to her.

“[Golkar chairman] Aburizal Bakrie is not happy with me. I’m not expecting anyone in Golkar to be fair or kind to me,” she was quoted as saying, referring to the former welfare minister, once Indonesia’s richest man.

Golkar member Idrus Marham, who chairs the House special committee investigating the bailout, said Sri Mulyani’s statement was “an insult” to both the House and the Golkar Party.

“Ibu Sri, please, don’t talk carelessly — it’s an insult,” Idrus said.

Idrus said Sri Mulyani’s statements were “part of her campaign to discredit the House’s committee” in an effort to hamper the investigation. He cautioned her not to confuse personal and political matters with the investigation.

In the interview, Sri Mulyani said tension between her and Aburizal had increased last year after she decided to keep the country’s stock exchange open despite his insistence that it be closed during a devastating run on companies owned by his family.

Aburizal has denied having problems with Sri Mulyani. But on Thursday he said state officials implicated in the Century case should be suspended to facilitate the committee’s investigation.

Golkar legislator Bambang Soesatyo said Golkar’s commitment to support the Century probe was part of its strategy to regain popularity ahead of the 2014 elections and was not about taking revenge against any individuals.

“We don’t have other motives. If Sri Mulyani didn’t do anything wrong, she doesn’t have to be worried,” Bambang said.

Committee deputy chairman Gayus Lumbuun, of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), guaranteed the committee would work to uncover the truth behind the scandal.

“The committee has no agenda to carry out personal vendettas,” Gayus said.

Burhanuddin Muhtadi, a senior researcher with the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), deemed Sri Mulyani’s statements “politically incorrect,” saying they would only earn her more enemies in the House. “She should improve ties with political parties instead of starting a war with them since she has no political backing in the House,” he said.

He added that she could not rely on the ruling Democratic Party, which only has 148 of the 560 House seats, to protect her. Golkar has 107 seats.

“They could easily earn the enmity of the political parties. If that happens, the Democrats would have no other choice but to let them go,” Burhanuddin said.

Sri Mulyani and Vice President Boediono, who was central bank governor at the time of the bailout, are both technocrats with little political support. Recorded minutes of key meetings revealed Boediono pushed for the bailout and Sri Mulyani approved it.

Boediono’s spokesman, Yopie Hidayat, warned “the criminalization of monetary policies would be dangerous,” as officials would be reluctant to make them.

Additional reporting by Camelia Pasandaran

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