Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta – The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and the Golkar Party have stressed that they would not bow to a coalition deal in issuing a conclusion on who was at fault in the Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million) Bank Century bailout.
PKS president Lutfi Hasan Ishak insisted legislators from his party would make a clear recommendation, since towing the coalition line and the bailout investigation process by the House of Representatives' inquiry team were two different matters.
"The coalition will continue even if the Bank Century inquiry committee ultimately recommends that government officials be found guilty in the Bank Century scandal," he said on Sunday.
He said the PKS' executive board had made a commitment to resolve the case given the data available.
"We will allow PKS legislators to employ all mechanisms in line with regulations and the Constitution to resolve the Bank Century case, including the constitutional process against Vice President Boediono if he is named responsible for the case," he was quoted as saying Sunday by news portal tempointeraktif.com.
Lutfi warned that since the House's inquiry committee was funded by the state budget, measures were needed to prevent political interests from being a factor.
Bambang Soesatyo, a committee member from Golkar, said his party would not change its recommendations because of the coalition.
"So far, Golkar still maintains the view that, among others, Bank Indonesia and the Finance System Stability Committee are responsible for the fiasco," Bambang told The Jakarta Post. "As far as I know, Golkar chairman [Aburizal Bakrie] never intervened at any stage in the investigation of the case."
He warned, however, that the final findings of the inquiry committee would be dependent on the solidity of five key parties, including the PKS and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
Golkar executive Setya Novanto said on Friday that the party recommended Boediono, the former Bank Indonesia governor, be impeached over his role in the bailout.
However, another Golkar executive, Priyo Budi Santoso, who is also the House deputy speaker, clarified the party's stance by saying that Golkar members did not have any reasons to justify an impeachment.
The PKS and Golkar are the two biggest parties in the ruling coalition led by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party. The other coalition members are the National Awakening Party (PKB), the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Mandate Party (PAN), which have expressed their full support for the Democratic Party.
Indonesian Survey Institute analyst Burhannudin Muhtadi said the PKS and Golkar would likely use the Century case to leverage their bargaining position in the coalition.
"However, a compromise between the two parties and the Democratic Party will depend on signals from the President," he said.
In political theory, he explained, a political compromise simply meant "who gets what, when and how" and in the Century case, the political negotiation would go beyond sacking Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who critics see as responsible for bailing out the ailing bank.
"This issue will enhance their bargaining position with regard to access to economic resources, the lucrative posts at state-owned enterprises and many others, including deals [to provide immunity to certain politicians from criminal charges]," he said.