Jakarta – The findings made by a parliamentary inquiry into the Bank Century bailout may be scathing of the Vice President and the finance minister, but Wednesday was business as usual for the two.
Vice President Boediono visited survivors of a landslide in Tenjolaya village, Bandung regency, West Java, while Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati inaugurated the new head of the Fiscal Policy Office, Anggito Abimanyu, in Jakarta.
"Pak Boediono is working as usual all day (Wednesday), with no specific plan to discuss the inquiry committee's findings in the Century case," vice-presidential spokesman Yopie Hidayat told The Jakarta Post.
On Tuesday, five of the nine parties on the House of Representatives' inquiry committee concluded the mechanism chosen by Mulyani to bail out Century in November 2008 had violated the law.
Six parties said the "special treatment" given to the ailing bank by Bank Indonesia under Boediono's governorship was an abuse of power. Boediono, however, viewed the findings as political in nature, "and not the truth", Yopie said.
Mulyani made a direct comment on the issue, saying the decision to salvage the bank had helped Indonesia stave off a deeper economic crisis.
"We on the (now-defunct) KSSK (Financial System Stability Committee) consider that I exercised my powers as cleanly as possible," she said. "I used all sources to keep our actions within the boundary of the law."
The two may face a sterner test next Tuesday when the House's 560 councilors vote on whether to endorse the unfavorable conclusions in a plenary meeting.
Gadjah Mada University political expert Ari Sujito said whatever the result of the vote, the House could only issue a set of recommendations and not actually force Boediono or Mulyani out of office. "Whether they step down depends solely on the President's stance," he said.
Constitutional law expert Refly Harun agreed that the final say would be with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. "He could say his two most trusted aides must be named suspects before removing them," he added.
Refly said next week the House was likely to issue recommendations for law enforcement agencies to take over the case, investigate the findings by the House inquiry and prosecute alleged violators.
Administrative law expert Margareto Kamis pointed out even though the House's recommendations would be nonbinding, they would still carry legal consequences.
"Any form of refusal by the executive branch of the government to follow up on findings of wrongdoing uncovered by the legislative branch could be seen as a violation of the Constitution," he said.
He added the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) was already looking into possible graft in the Century bailout, thus other legal violations, including at the decision-making level, would be handled by the Attorney General's Office and the police.
"Boediono can only be impeached if he's found guilty of an actual crime," Margareto said. "Impeachment is individual in nature, so it wouldn't touch Yudhoyono."