Febriamy Hutapea & Dion Bisara – A House of Representatives inquiry into the controversial government bailout of PT Bank Century overcame its first hurdle on Tuesday when an overwhelming majority of lawmakers backed it, as fierce jostling to join the team that will conduct the probe was already taking place.
The proposal received the votes of a record 503 of the House's 560 lawmakers at a plenary session. The 30-member House Special Committee is scheduled to be established on Friday, during the House's last session before it enters recess.
Political parties were already busy picking their representatives for the team on Tuesday. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's ruling Democratic Party will have eight seats. The Golkar Party will have six seats and the Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) five. The rest will be divided among smaller parties.
"We have to be on high alert, because there will be members who will join the committee to uncover the facts, but there will also be others who will join to hamper the investigation," said Maruarar Sirait, of the PDI-P, without elaborating.
The motion to form the team was initiated by lawmakers from Golkar and PDI-P. The Democratic Party's 148 House members signed on last, after the proposal had already garnered the signatures of more than 200 legislators.
Anas Urbaningrum, chairman of the Democratic Party's faction in the House, said the party was still considering names for the committee, but added that "anyone who will be joining the committee from the Democrats must be a capable and credible member."
Maruarar said the focus of investigation would be to reveal the truth behind the government's controversial decision to bail out Bank Century and to find out where the rescue funds ended up. PDI-P officials have confirmed that Maruarar would sit on the committee.
The special committee will also investigate the role of the National Police's former chief of detectives, Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, who is alleged to have aided tycoon Boedi Sampoerna retrieve Rp 2 trillion ($212 million) from the bank's frozen funds.
The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) released a damning report last week that said as much as 40 percent of the Rp 6.7 trillion used to bail out Bank Century, beginning in November 2008, was effectively illegal, and cited other wrongdoings that it recommended be investigated by law enforcement agencies. But the BPK said it was hindered from tracing the funds.
Maruarar said he hoped the committee would be united despite party differences. "This special committee should be different from' previous committees. It should be beneficial to the public," he said, before handing over the proposal to House Speaker Marzuki Alie, who is also the Democrat's secretary general.
Debate in the House became heated when Marzuki prevented those who initiated the motion from reading supporting materials, warning of coming to a premature verdict "because we don't know [yet] who is wrong."
Yunus Husein, chairman of the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), which tracked the transfer of funds to and from Bank Century, met with House leaders late on Tuesday to discuss the difficulties experienced by the agency in tracing the bailout money.
"It's really difficult to trace the money because the transactions occurred within many layers and were conducted last year," he said after the meeting. He added that the House should not merely rely on his institution but should also seek data from the central bank and the Deposit Insurance Agency (LPS).
Yunus said the PPATK, at the behest of the BPK, had so far only detected 51 suspicious Century depositors – 44 individuals and seven institutions – accounting for Rp 146.7 billion.
House Deputy Speaker Pramono Anung, from the PDI-P, accused the PPATK of not being aggressive in tracing the funds.