The fate of two senior leaders is hanging in the balance pending the findings of the inquiry committee of the House of Representatives on the Bank Century bailout.

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati is our reformation icon and Vice President Boediono a civil servant with a clean track record. It will be heartbreaking if we have to see both of them go at a time when we cannot afford to lose either one of them. Their presence will assure the consistency and continuity of our economy.

Mirroring the fluid political mood, the House committee is still undecided about such trivialities as the name of their findings. Shall they call it a progress report, a temporary conclusion or an overview? The result of their month-long exhaustive investigation into the Rp 6.7 trillion (US$716 million) controversial bailout of the bank has yet to get a name.

The key to salvaging Mulyani and Boediono lies in the hands of Yudhoyono. His 25 percent-strong Democratic Party at the House has to win over Golkar, the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). This is possible, at least on paper, although both PAN and Golkar have grown more vocal in recent days, a sign that they are upping the ante. And each of these parties has its candidates ready to replace Boediono.

Golkar, with nearly 20 percent of the House's 560 seats, has been talking about impeaching Boediono. An impeachment process needs the nod of two-thirds of the House members. It is a long and arduous process and an unnecessary one, since leaders of the caliber of Boediono and Mulyani do not need an impeachment. They will voluntarily step down as soon as they are found to have committed mistakes.

Numerous political interests have piggybacked the committee right from the start. They are eager to prove that Boediono committed a mistake by deciding to bailout the bank during his days as the central bank governor. Mulyani has been targeted for refusing to offer special treatment to party leaders in her past bold reform measures.

Comparing the resolute quality of one leader with another is not always in line with our culture but one is hard put not to do so in the case of the House inquiry committee. Former vice president Jusuf Kalla is remembered as a leader who could exert his influence on the coalition. Whether or not Yudhoyono is able to do so will remain to be seen.

Still fresh in our memory is that the attacks on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) by the National Police and the Attorney General's Office in November were stopped by civil society, not by the President.

He could have stopped the attacks on the KPK if he had wanted to, and prevented the Bank Century saga from developing into a political stray bullet if he had wanted to do so, two months ago. Timing is a critical element in politics and we could only sigh as it passed.

The ball is now at SBY's feet. He could kick the ball into the goalkeeper's net and salvage the two leaders, or let the political ball be controlled by elements with vested interests.