Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – Despite the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) finding nothing major in its audit of the government's bailout of Bank Century in 2008, numerous lawmakers say they will continue exercising their legislative right, which ultimately could lead to an impeachment.
Legislators from at least four of the nine political parties at the House of Representatives (DPR), namely the Golkar Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the People's Conscience (Hanura) Party, have said they will exercise their legislative right to express an opinion.
The right, which is a required step in instigating the impeachment process, will be used as the lawmakers believe the government's decision to disburse Rp 6.76 trillion (US$743.6 million) to bail out Bank Century, re-branded Bank Mutiara, involved numerous illicit practices such as channeling the funds to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's inner-circle to finance the 2009 elections.
Politicians who support the move believe that Vice President Boediono, who at the time of the bailout was the Bank Indonesia governor, and former finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, currently a managing director at the World Bank, shared responsibility for the bailout, which they claim was flawed.
"We suspect that the BPK forensic audit experienced interference from those in power. However, a few new findings can still be used to utilize the right to express an opinion," Golkar lawmaker Bambang Soesatyo said on Tuesday, referring to BPK's second audit on the bailout, the results of which were officially handed over to the House two weeks ago.
He cited a finding in the audit alleging that Yudhoyono's in-law, Hartanto Edhie Wibowo, and his wife, Satya Kumala Sari, had made fictitious foreign exchange transactions amounting Rp 1.1 billion.
Akbar Faisal of Hanura said the BPK had also found that the publisher of Jurnal Nasional daily, which is widely known for consistently defending the Yudhoyono administration and his Democratic Party, was allegedly a Bank Century customer whose Rp 101 billion deposit had been saved by the government's bailout.
The government, through its Deposit Insurance Agency (LPS), only guarantees bank customers' deposits of up to Rp 2 billion. "If Bank Century had been left to collapse, the publisher would only have gotten Rp 2 billion from its total deposit," Akbar said, adding that many other parties linked to Yudhoyono's political circle may also have benefited from the bailout.
Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha has played down the finding on Hartanto and Satya, saying that Yudhoyono would leave it to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to investigate the case.
Jurnal Nasional has also denied it was a Bank Century customer. The paper's then chief editor was Ramadhan Pohan, who is currently a Democratic Party lawmaker.
Also on Tuesday, Ramadhan objected to any efforts to downplay BPK's last audit on the bailout. "It is now time for the KPK to handle the case based on the audit. This is a legal case and could thus be dangerous if always used as a political tool," he said.
PKS politician Muhammad Misbakhun, meanwhile, suggested that the House appoint a prominent private auditor to conduct another audit as a "second opinion" to the BPK's audit.