Febriamy Hutapea & Muninggar Sri Saraswati – Embattled Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati got high grades for her performance on Wednesday in front of the House of Representatives special committee probing the PT Bank Century bailout, but the bulk of the legislators did not score nearly as well.
"The lawmakers keep repeating the same questions to the witnesses," said Yunarto Widjaja, a researcher with Charta Politika. "Instead of digging into the facts regarding whether or not the bailout was linked to a certain party for the election campaign, the lawmakers preferred to question her about gossip in the media."
Yunarto slammed the lawmakers for turning the questioning session into "a political idol contest" by posing "unsubstantial questions" apparently just to ensure that they would appear on live television.
He said Sri Mulyani outshined the lawmakers, who at times could be seen laughing amongst themselves when a colleague asked a question.
Deddy Mulyana, a political communication expert from Padjadjaran University, said Sri Mulyani "appeared confident and well-prepared," though at time seem bored.
He noted that Sri Mulyani also engaged in some one-upmanship by repeating 2008 statements in support of the bailout by committee members Bambang Soesatyo of the Golkar Party, Maruarar Siahaan of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Drajad Wibowo of the National Mandate Party (PAN). The trio now maintain they opposed the bailout.
The hearing began well for Sri Mulyani, a respected technocrat favored by the markets who approved the bailout after strong urging from Bank Indonesia, which at the time was headed by Vice President Boediono.
Sri Mulyani arrived carrying a bouquet of flowers and waved to a large group of supporters in the public gallery, including her husband and members of the Ministry of Finance – though a number of legislators grumbled that they should have been at work.
Melchias Markus Mekeng, from Golkar, said he was disappointed that Sri Mulyani's answers were inconsistent. "She said Indonesia was on the brink of a crisis prior to the Century bailout," he said. "But in the 2008 central government financial report, she said Indonesia's economy was in good shape. That was inconsistent."
Many lawmakers also attempted to corner the minister over her controversial decision to inject cash into the ailing bank on the grounds that its potential collapse posed a systemic risk to the domestic banking sector and economy.
Sri Mulyani, however, stood by her decision, alluding to allegations that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Democratic Party benefited from the bailout by saying the decision benefited all Indonesians.
"All the horrid economic prediction about layoffs, growth contraction and enormous crisis cost did not materialize. Instead, today our state budget is one of the best in the world and [we are] one of the best-growing countries," she said, drawing warm applause from her supporters in the room.
Fauzi Ichsan, the chief economist at Standard Chartered Bank in Jakarta, and Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, the chief economist at the state-run Danareksa Research Institute, also praised Sri Mulyani's performance at the hearing.
"I was worried that she would be very emotional since the question and the tone of the special committee members was often meant to corner her, but she remained calm," Purbaya said.