Camelia Pasandaran – Following a tumultuous weekend in which aides to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and a lawmaker from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) traded allegations of corruption and defamation, the House of Representatives now enters a decisive week in its investigation of the government bailout of Bank Century.
But even before the full House meets on Tuesday and Wednesday to deliberate and vote on whether the Rp 6.7 trillion ($717 million) bailout in 2008 was legal, all eyes are following the curious moves of the PKS, which is a member of Yudhoyono's ruling coalition but has been vocal about declaring the bailout illegal.
The political temperature reached new highs on Sunday when Mukhamad Misbakhun, a PKS lawmaker who helped initiate the House inquiry late last year, said he would sue two presidential aides for defamation after they accused him during a news conference of receiving part of the Bank Century bailout funds.
"I'm studying the news and transcripts and will conduct a thorough analysis," Misbakhun told the Jakarta Globe. "I plan to take legal action by reporting them to the police for defamation."
On Saturday, Andi Arief, a presidential staff member for social affairs and disaster management, and Felix Wanggai, a presidential staffer for regional autonomy, said they had evidence showing Misbakhun had used a fictitious letter of credit to "conduct a robbery."
During the news conference, Andi showed journalists a letter of credit worth $22.5 million as well as a collateral document, a notary act and other documents they claimed showed Misbakhun held a 99 percent stake in PT Prima Internusa. The company, which is involved in plastics, applied for a letter of credit from the former Bank Century in the months following the state-ordered bailout.
According to Andi, the request for credit was for exporting wheat in November 2009, and the letter of credit was given even before the collateral document – which shows proof that a deposit was made – was ever approved.
Misbakhun denied the accusations, saying the credit request had been rejected. He called the charges a ploy to distract the public's attention from the Bank Century investigation.
"We're close to the end," he said. "It is normal that there is an effort to distract public attention from the facts and substance revealed by the House committee."
In declaring its final stance last Tuesday, the PKS named Vice President Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati as responsible for the "illegal bailout," coming out even more strongly that some opposition parties.
With the House's final conclusions due on Wednesday, Felix said the public should be informed about alleged criminal activity in the Bank Century case.
Last November, Misbakhun and other lawmakers had pushed for a House probe amid unsubstantiated claims that bailout money was illegally diverted to Yudhoyono's re-election campaign team. The investigation has found no evidence to support the allegations.
Yudhoyono's Democratic Party has since turned the screws on opposition parties and even coalition members, including PKS and Golkar, to push them to back away from calling the bailout illegal and demanding the removal of Boediono and Sri Mulyani. (Additional reporting by Antara)