Febriamy Hutapea & Nivell Rayda – A senior Democratic Party leader sought to calm the party's coalition partners on Thursday, saying the evaluation of the alliance, called for by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was not a threat in response to their aggressive stance in the PT Bank Century probe.
"It should not be seen as a threat to frighten coalition parties. It's actually to keep the coalition's spirit up," said Anas Urbaningrum, chairman of the Democratic faction in the House of Representatives.
Yudhoyono, who heads the Democratic Party Advisory Board, announced on Wednesday that he would conduct a review of the coalition agreement.
"The performance contract, integrity pact and coalition agreement will be evaluated," Yudhoyono said after inaugurating three deputy ministers. He also reminded coalition partners to remain loyal and consistent in their support.
The president's comments came as lawmakers on the House special committee investigating Bank Century intensified moves to question state and former Bank Indonesia officials, including Yudhoyono's in-law Aulia Pohan.
"The evaluation only emphasizes the president's initiative to keep the spirit. It has nothing to do with the investigation of the Century case," Anas said.
The Democrats' coalition consists of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the National Mandate Party (PAN), the National Awakening Party (PKB), the Golkar Party and the United Development Party (PPP).
"The establishment of the House special committee is decided based on agreement in the House. If there is tension during the committee's investigation, I think it's normal and does not break the coalition platform," PKS faction chairman Mustafa Kamal said.
He added that PKS representatives in the cabinet had been professional in their duties and he was confident the evaluation would not damage their positions.
"The evaluation is normal. It should not be looked at as an effort to threaten certain parties," he said.
In the investigation, Marwan Ja'far, special committee member from the PKB, said some Century depositors reimbursed after the Rp 6.7 trillion ($710 million) bailout had names similar to or the same as five senior officials and politicians. He listed the depositors as Sri Mulyani, Fran Seda, Hadi Utomo, Megawati Sukarnoputri and Fahmi Idris.
The Financial Transaction Report and Analysis Center (PPATK) on Wednesday handed the committee the list of the key depositors. But their profiles, including personal data such as address, age and profession, were different from the officials and politicians they shared similar names with. Each account held less than Rp 2 billion, according to the PPATK.
Other names on the list were said to be similar to the relatives of lawmakers, such as Satya Kusuma Sari, the wife of Hartanto Edhie Wibowo – brother of first lady Ani Yudhoyono – and Armand Omar Moeis, the son of PDI-P politician Emir Moeis.
Marwan said the House would soon summon the PPATK to question it over possible connections between the political figures and depositors with similar names.
The committee on Thursday also questioned two Bank Indonesia deputy governors, Muliaman Hadad and Budi Mulia.
Separately, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) continued its probe into the bailout, questioning Fuad Rahmani, chairman of the Capital Market and Financial Institutions Supervisory Agency (Bapepam-LK). KPK spokesman Johan Budi would only say that the agency had questioned Fuad "in connection to the Century case."
The KPK also interviewed Darso Wijaya, an executive of Bank Century, now renamed Bank Mutiara. Darso declined to comment after facing five hours of questioning.
Including Raden Parded, the secretary of the Financial Stability System Committee (KSSK), which issued the decision to rescue the bank, a total of six people have been questioned by the KPK in connection with the bailout.