Febriamy Hutapea & Muninggar Sri Saraswati – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is flexing his muscles behind the scenes in order to seek a "political solution" to the ongoing Bank Century scandal, a government spokesman indicated on Thursday.
Vice President Boediono's spokesman, Yopie Hidayat, told the Jakarta Globe that he remained "optimistic" that the final results of the House of Representatives special committee investigating the Rp 6.7 trillion ($710 million) bailout would be "favorable to us."
"I am sure the president will do whatever he can do to solve this politically," Yopie said. "Because this is not a legal problem, it is political. And we have confidence in the president."
Yudhoyono canceled a trip out of town scheduled this week and has bunkered with his key advisers and confidantes in Jakarta ahead of the expected release of the committee's findings on Wednesday.
The president is believed to have taken a more forceful tack after Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie, who was once close to Yudhoyono, threatened to pull Golkar from the governing coalition. Aburizal was responding to comments from the president's Democratic Party that coalition partners would be stripped of cabinet seats if they that failed to support the government on the bailout probe.
The Golkar head had been walking a fine line in his alleged attempts to remove Sri Mulyani Indrawati as finance minister in response to a major tax investigation into three mining companies in the Bakrie group.
Despite speculation of animosity, Yudhoyono and Bakrie rely on each other. The president had been counting on the support of Golkar in the House, and Aburizal's business empire depends heavily on government contracts and favorable financial regulators.
The political rumor mill has been active with talk of closed-door meetings between top political figures over the House's bailout probe. While a number of politicians have confirmed such meetings, most denied the link to the probe and its results.
Seven of the nine political parties represented in the House, including four in the ruling coalition, have taken stances against the Democrats, dominating the political landscape and completely overshadowing anything the government has attempted to achieve.
Gayus Lumbuun, deputy chairman of the special committee and a member of the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), acknowledged that a number of senior lawmakers from various political factions met in an upscale shopping mall in Jakarta on Wednesday but said the event was a karaoke session.
"There was no lobbying," Gayus said. "It was to celebration the anniversary of a television station."
Lawmaker Mahfudz Siddiq from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) said a similar meeting occurred on Monday, but that lobbying was a normal occurrence in politics.
"I don't mind. Lobbying is a good thing but for certain issues, let each faction present its respective findings. Lobbying does not mean having to say the same thing about complicated problems, as that may threaten democracy," he said.
Golkar and the Democrats had yet to see eye to eye over the issue, he added. Democrat Benny K Harman denied that the party had resorted to threatening Golkar and the PKS over their positions that the bailout was illegal and contained indications of corruption.
He said the party was simply "developing communication and dialogue" with their counterparts "to have similar perceptions and take similar steps in running the country."
Separately, United Development Party (PPP) chairman Suryadarma Ali said that the party had yet to adopt its final position on the bank rescue.
"We are still gathering the latest data, the latest findings. The PPP members of the special committee will present these to the House faction and the final stance will then be formulated," Suryadarma said.
Asked whether his party's final position could still be different from that of its initial stance finding wrongdoing in the bank rescue, Suryadarma said: "everything is still possible because of the newest findings."
He said that he had been against the need for a preliminary stance because the investigation was still ongoing. "With the new findings, it is possible for the early standpoint to change," Suryadarma said.
He denied that there was any pressure from the Democrats, but added that lobbying could also still change the party's position. He declined to elaborate.
[Additional reporting from Camelia Pasandaran.]