Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Febriamy Hutapea – Responsibility for investigating the Bank Century bailout scandal should be transferred from the unfocused and biased House of Representatives special committee to the Corruption Eradication Commission, analysts said on Sunday.
Yanuar Rizki, an independent financial and market analyst, said the respected antigraft agency, known as the KPK, should have the full authority to determine if the Rp 6.7 trillion ($710 million) bailout was legal, and what happened to the money.
Speaking during a discussion on governance, Yanuar said the focus of the House committee was "too wide" and that he was concerned lawmakers were biased.
The heads of both Vice President Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati are on the chopping block with the Golkar Party and Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) holding the ax. The House committee is nearing its Thursday deadline to release its findings on the legality of the bailout and who was responsible.
Boediono, however, is standing firm, telling the Jakarta Globe through a spokesman on Friday that he had no intention of resigning and "there is no way a few politicians can undo the electoral process."
Echoing Yanuar's comments, Indonesia Corruption Watch also asked that the KPK and Constitutional Court be given the authority to investigate.
Speaking at a news conference in Jakarta, ICW researcher Febridiansyah said it was likely that the House would resolve the case through secret meetings and transactions among the warring political parties, even though there were indications that parties that had stood behind President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party-led coalition were wavering in their support.
"It will lead to antipathy and distrust, which will eventually erode the legitimacy of the SBY-Boediono government," Febridiansyah said.
"To avoid such a scenario, it is better to dissolve the House's special commission and hand its findings over to the Constitutional Court, which will check and decide whether the president or vice president was involved in the case."
Febridiansyah said any investigation into allegations of criminal actions during the bailout process should be fully handed over to the KPK.
He said it was important that the National Police and the Attorney General's Office were not the lead investigators. "We can count on the KPK to conduct legal enforcement, and to coordinate the police and the AGO in a settlement of the case," Febridiansyah said.
There are at least nine entry points for the KPK to investigate the case, he said.
"Like the merger process that created Bank Century, which was conducted without considering the law and without significant supervision from the central bank," Febridiansyah said. "There are allegations of legal violations and abuse of power from that process."
The opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said over the weekend that there was a "very likely" possibility that one or both officials could be removed from office.
Tjahjo Kumolo, PDI-P faction leader in the House, told Tempointeractive the PKS faction in the House had agreed that there had been criminal violations during the bailout, including indications that could lead to the ouster of Boediono, who was Bank Indonesia governor at the time, as well as Sri Mulyani.
If Golkar votes against the wishes of Yudhoyono, as is expected, and the special committee forwards its recommendations to the full plenary session of the House, the way the PKS votes will be crucial to the decision on whether to forward the investigation to the Constitutional Court. That will determine what course of action follows.