Febriamy Hutapea, Muninggar Sri Saraswati, & Nivel Rayda – Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Vice President Boediono may be highly regarded technocrats, but the looming House of Representatives investigation into the PT Bank Century bailout is going to be a fierce political battle for which the two are ill prepared, analysts and civil society leaders said on Friday.
"The case has become a fight within the political elite. The public's interest in transparency and accountability in the bailout decision has been put aside," independent financial analyst Yanuar Rizky told the Jakarta Globe.
Rizky and some NGO activists want to see the House special committee set up to probe the Rp 6.7 trillion ($710 million) bailout step aside and let the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) lead the investigation.
"The House special committee should only observe and expedite the KPK's investigation," Rizky said.
Sri Mulyani and Boediono, then governor of the central bank, sanctioned the bailout of the mid-sized bank in November 2008 over fears that its collapse could have imperiled the entire banking system at the height of the global economic crisis. Both officials have said the action was legal and taken for the good of the nation.
On Thursday, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Sri Mulyani accused Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie of using the case to retaliate against her for clashing with him on several policy matters.
Golkar officials denied having any political agenda in pushing for the House probe.
The Century affair is not a legal proceeding but instead a forum for political parties, warned Yunarto Widjaja, a political researcher for Charta Politika, an NGO.
"Their [Sri Mulyani and Boediono] political positions are very shaky as they are technocrats," he said. "They don't have traditional political backing. This is something that we were afraid of."
Transparency International Indonesia's secretary general, Teten Masduki, said on Friday that the political process in the House was counterproductive.
"People are tired of the blame game and will ultimately lose interest," he said. "Especially if they see the House inquiry as nothing more than a political maneuver."
The Golkar Party is likely to use the case "to bargain with the Democratic Party and to fulfill Bakrie's interests," Yunarto said. "Golkar may want to fill the position of vice president" if Boediono should fall, he added.
The Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) is likely to use the case, Yunarto said, "for short-term benefit – that is to end possible legal problems surrounding some of their lawmakers."
He was referring to allegations that PDI-P lawmakers accepted bribes related to the appointment of former central bank senior deputy governor Miranda Goeltom. That case is currently being investigated by the KPK.
Burhanuddin Muhtadi, a senior researcher with the Indonesian Survey Institute, maintained that the parties in coalition with President Bambang Susilo Yudhoyono's ruling Democratic Party were in the game for political leverage.
"You can smell their political ambition," Burhanudin said. Those outside the ruling coalition, such as the PDI-P and Golkar, could use the Century probe as a way to wave a populist flag to burnish their credentials for the 2014 elections.
"We need to closely monitor this so that the case does not end up making scapegoats of several people," Burhanudin said.
According to these analysts, Sri Mulyani and Boediono also cannot rely on the Democratic Party to support them. "The party wants to safeguard the position of the president and the party itself until 2014," Yunarto said.
Meanwhile, a top executive at the Democratic Party, Anas Urbaningrum, insisted that the House special committee investigating the Century bailout would work fairly despite the tensions between Sri Mulyani and Aburizal. "We don't work based on personal interests," Anas said.