Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono must take action to end the polemics surrounding the Bank Century scandal if he wants to restore domestic and international's trust in his administration, experts say.
"So far we haven't seen any serious steps taken by the President. What's more, he seems to have allowed this controversy to be prolonged and drawn out," economic observer Yanuar Rizky told a discussion Saturday.
Yanuar said Yudhoyono could not expect people to believe there was nothing wrong in the Bank Century bailout – which had used up Rp 6.7 trillion (US$711 million), 10 times from the government's initial bailout package of Rp 632 billion – simply by saying everything was alright.
"Why is it that whenever we talk about the distribution of money related to the bank, the government avoids the issue?" Yanuar asked. "The more the government avoids this, the more suspicious it becomes."
If the government made the whole process transparent and could showed it had no involvement in campaign funding, political funding or any relation to corruption, the public would credit the government and it could regain its credibility based on a transparent and verified information – not just statements.
Yanuar said it was easy for the President to show his seriousness in handling the Bank Century case.
"Yudhoyono only has to gather all chairmen of state institutions, such as those of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) and the Financial Transaction Report Analysis Center (PPATK) and tell them to cooperate to settle this," he said.
The Bank Century controversy first came to the public's attention when legislators at the House of Representatives summoned the government over its lack of transparency, disclosing the cost of the bailout to salvage the bank from bankruptcy on Aug. 27.
Bank Indonesia has repeatedly stated that saving Bank Century was vital because its collapse could have adversely affected the banking system.
Analysts, however, suspect the bailout was granted not because of a desire to protect the banking sector, but as part of a scheme to rescue the investments of high-profile and politically connected depositors.
While the BPK is preparing an audit report on Bank Century, some 130 legislators from several parties at the House have signed a petition requesting the establishment of an inquiry team to probe the Bank Century case.
Article 177 of the Law on the Composition of Legislative Bodies stipulates that an inquiry committee can be formed when at least 25 legislators from at least two different parties officially endorses its establishment.
A legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Gayus Lumbuun, said his party had established a small team to investigate the case and had found several oddities. Gayus said he expected all parties to approve the establishment of an inquiry team.
"The team is not being established to overthrow anyone. We just want to reveal the truth," he said.
Meanwhile, the deputy chairman of the Democratic Party at the House, Sutan Bhatoegana, said his party had yet to see the urgency of the team's establishment and therefore had yet to sign the petition.