Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – After busting politicians from almost every major political party for graft, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is now casting its beady little eyes upon the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
KPK prosecutors recently summoned a number of Megawati Soekarnoputri's former ministers from the PDI-P, and grilled them about their parts in the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI) case.
On Tuesday, investigators spent quality time with former industry and trade minister Rini Mariani Soemarno Soewandi, a confidant of Megawati, and member of the PDI-P central executive board.
"I was questioned about the BLBI in my capacity as member of the Financial Sector Stability Committee [KSSK]," Rini said after a seven-hour grilling at the KPK headquarters.
The KSSK was established in 2008 to determine policies and deal with financial crises, such as deciding whether to provide liquidity or capital injections for banks facing problems.
Rini had nothing meaningful to say about her questioning or her knowledge of "release and discharge" letters, guaranteeing debtors who fulfilled their obligations that they would be released from legal procedures.
Obviously with important matters to deal with, she rushed to get inside her vehicle. Rini has a chummy relationship with Megawati and often travels with the former president.
The BLBI scandal revolves around the fate of Rp 702 trillion (US$71 billion) of Bank Indonesia bailout funds, during the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis. Misuse of the funds led to state losses of hundreds of trillions rupiah.
Following "advice" from ministers, including Laksamana Sukardi, in 2002 Megawati issued Presidential Decree No. 8/2002 which regulated these "release and discharge" letters, freeing recipients of the funds from obligation to fully pay the debts.
The KPK summoned Laksamana earlier this month. According to Laksamana, the clearance letters were perfectly legal as they had been pursuant to a decree by the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly (TAP MPRS) No. 10/2000.
Laksamana claimed that the decree had ordered Megawati to provide legal certainty in the BLBI case, and required that the assets seized during the bailout be sold as soon as possible.
"So there is a decree and if she violated that decree, then she could be impeached," Laksamana said after the questioning. "The letters are products of the constitution."
He also argued that the government had no alternative but to sell the assets at a low price due to the crippling economic situation at the time. It was simply the risk that Megawati had to run to obey the decree. The decree, however, only stated that the president had to take stern action towards parties proven guilty in the BLBI case.
Recently the KPK has been able to name the creme de la creme at the top of political parties, including former party chairmen Anas Urbaningrum and Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq, as suspects in graft cases.
The pace of the progress in the BLBI case, however, has been notoriously glacial. First handled by the Attorney General's Office (AGO), before being dropped by former senior AGO prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan, who headed the investigation team, the case was eventually picked up by the KPK in 2008.