Margareth S. Aritonang and Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Tuesday formally named two former deputy Bank Indonesia (BI) governors as suspects in the 2008 Bank Century bailout scandal.

The KPK announced the names of the suspects, Siti Chalimah Fadjrijah and Budi Mulia, during a hearing with the House of Representatives' (DPR) team specifically setup to monitor the Rp 6.76 trillion bailout.

"Our investigation has concluded that BI former deputy governors SCF and BM are guilty of having roles in the installment of the short-term liquidity support [FPJP] for Bank Century," KPK chief Abraham Samad said, referring to Siti Fadjrijah and Budi Mulia by their initials.

According to Abraham, Siti and Budi are also guilty of declaring that Bank Century failed which may have caused systemic impacts.

The long-awaited announcement somewhat disappointed the public and lawmakers, as nothing new was uncovered by the KPK investigations. Many lawmakers wanted to see Vice President Boediono, who was then BI governor, also placed on the KPK list.

"The mentioning of the two names is hardly an achievement because those names had already been mentioned during a House plenary meeting in October in 2010. Why don't you include Boediono? Wasn't he, as a leader of the BI, also responsible?" said Akbar Faisal, a People's Conscience Party (Hanura) lawmaker.

Sidarto Danusubroto from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) emphasized that "BI deputy governors must have executed their policies based on the governor's consent".

Citing a recommendation letter by a House special committee on the bailout in 2009, lawmaker Bambang Soesatyo said that Boediono in his capacity as BI governor, as well as other officials such as former senior deputy governor Miranda Goeltom, were also indicated to have played roles in the irregularities surrounding the installment of the FPJP.

"I think it's the job of law enforcers to prove such indication. However, they can't process Boediono due to his rights as vice president. Therefore, we hope that the KPK will forward further findings on the matter so that the House can pass them on to the Constitutional Court for legal action," the Golkar politician said.

After explaining its lack of authority to investigate Boediono, Abraham of the KPK emphasized that "the KPK cannot proceed the request because the authority belongs to the Constitutional Court".

However, Samad's statement was rebuffed by the Constitutional Court chief justice Mahfud MD, who said that the KPK has the authority to summon Vice President Boediono.

"The Constitutional Court doesn't have authority to investigate a criminal case implicating president or vice president. It should be carried out by the KPK, the Attorney General's Office [AGO] or the National Police," he said in a separate interview.

"Whether the man is Boediono or anyone else, the main thing is that the authority of the KPK is not affected by the Constitutional Court's authority," he added. Mahfud also highlighted the KPK's performance in the aftermath of the KPK-police rift in October.

"I saw that in the last three weeks, the KPK's performance has slowed down, they have not made any significant progress, such as in the Hambalang sports complex fraud case [...] The KPK has to pay people, by working hard to eradicate corruption," he said.

Separately, Vice Presidential spokesperson Yopie Hidayat said that Boediono supported the KPK's investigation into the Bank Century bailout. He said that Boediono had approved the controversial bailout in 2008 to maintain the country's financial and economic stability.

"If Bank Century was not salvaged, it could have resulted in a systematic impact upon Indonesia's financial system," he said. (yps)

[Rabby Pradmudata contributed to reporting.]