Febriamy Hutapea, Dion Bisara, Anita Rachman – Indonesian Vice President Boediono on Tuesday exasperated lawmakers and activists with vague and reluctant answers to questions from the House of Representatives special committee investigating the Bank Century bailout.
"My personal judgement [is that] it is not [state money]. But I leave the matter to the legal experts," Boediono said, replying to Ahmad Muzani, a lawmaker from the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra). Ahmad had asked whether the Deposit Insurance Corporation (LPS) had used state money to bail out Century.
His answer angered Ahmad La Ode Kamaluddin, an activist from the Anti-Corruption Youth Action Committee. "Boediono is a thief. Investigate and bring Boediono to trial," he shouted, before security guards escorted him to Jakarta Police headquarters.
Boediono was Bank Indonesia governor at the time of the Rp 6.7 trillion ($710 million) bailout in 2008. According to tape-recordings of meetings in which the decision was debated, he insisted that Century's failure could threaten the entire banking sector as the global financial crisis was unfolding and banks were suffering severe liquidity problems.
Despite the aggressive grilling by lawmakers, Boediono avoided offering a firm answer on whether state funds were used in the bailout. "I don't have any decision on whether the bailout used state money. I'm not in a position to judge it," he said.
However, when asked why Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati had been involved in an emergency meeting on the bailout on Nov. 21, 2008, Boediono said that as chair of the Committee for Financial Sector Stability (KSSK) she was required to be involved "because it was related to state funds."
Lawmakers professed confusion over Boediono's apparently contradictory answers.
"How could you give a judgment about the supposed systemic impact [on the banking sector] but could not say firmly whether the bailout used state funds," said Maruarar Sirait, from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
Boediono said the LPS's money consisted of an initial Rp 4 trillion from the government and premiums paid by banks for the corporation's deposit-guarantee program. Some organizations, such as the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), believed that the LPS funds consisted of state money.
Boediono also denied that Marsilam Simanjuntak, the head of the President's Working Unit for the Management of Reform Programs, was asked to attend the meeting by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to back the bailout.
"Marsilam was clearly not involved in the decision-making. His presence was only as a source," Boediono said. "He was asked to give advice on legal matters because economic problems are linked with legal matters."
Boediono said Sri Mulyani had reported the bailout decision to Yudhoyono, who was overseas, after the conclusion of the KSSK meeting.
Replying to a question about why then-Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who was then acting head of state, was not notified, Boediono said, "Bank Indonesia had no obligation to report to him."
Kalla, whom Boediono replaced as vice president in October, is scheduled to face questioning by the House special committee today.