Febriamy Hutapea – In a potentially devastating blow to the fortunes of Vice President Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, two political parties indicated on Wednesday that they would find that crimes had been committed in the bailout of PT Bank Century, setting the stage to impeach Boediono.
The news means that the House of Representatives special committee probing the costly bailout will likely send the findings to the full House to vote on whether to forward them to the Constitutional Court. That body issued guidelines outlining the procedures for impeachment late last year.
Andi Rahmat, a legislator from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), which holds four seats in President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's cabinet and is a key member of the ruling Democratic Party-led coalition, said four government bodies were responsible for the bailout: the Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK), the Coordination Committee (KK), the Deposit Insurance Agency (LPS) and Bank Indonesia.
Boediono was a member of the KSSK when it approved the bailout in 2008 with Sri Mulyani at the helm. He was also governor of Bank Indonesia at the time.
Andi said that although the PKS had not made an official decision, the party had found 18 violations during the bailout process. "The indications are that crimes were committed," he said.
The central board of the party also appeared to support that stance, indicating that Boediono and Sri Mulyani, both respected technocrats without the backing of political parties, were in the firing line.
PKS secretary general Anis Matta said those involved in the "legal problems" surrounding the bailout decision were professionals, so the party's stance could not be linked to the ruling coalition.
"This has nothing to do with loyalty to Pak SBY [Yudhoyono] or the government," he claimed.
The Islamic-based PKS was a vocal critic of Boediono's appointment as Yudhoyono's running mate ahead of last year's presidential elections, questioning Boediono's – and his wife's – Islamic credentials.
Boediono, said to be the driving force behind the bailout because of what he called a systemic threat to the banking sector, was responsible for issuing a controversial central bank regulation in 2008 that made the bailout possible.
Lawmaker Bambang Soesatyo of the Golkar Party, which aligned with Democrats before Aburizal Bakrie was appointed Golkar chairman, said his party's conclusion would be similar to that of the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), which found nine indications of criminal wrongdoing during the bailout.
It is no secret that Bakrie, a controversial business magnate, has long had reformer Sri Mulyani in his sights. Bakrie has been called one of the driving forces in the attempt to unseat the finance minister because of her role in an ongoing investigation into allegations that his companies were involved in tax evasion totaling Rp 2 trillion ($218 million) in 2007.
House Democratic faction chairman Anas Urbaningrum stuck to the party line, arguing that the bailout policy had saved the nation's banking sector from the worst impacts of the global financial meltdown. He said Sri Mulyani and Boediono had made a bold decision. "It's a successful policy."