Hans David Tampobolon, Jakarta – A threat from House of Representatives lawmakers to boycott any hearing with Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati will do more harm than good, observers say.
Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) researcher Syamsuddin Haris said Friday bigger national interests would be at stake if the threat materialized, as Mulyani would represent the government in hearings to debate key issues such as state budget revision.
"The boycotts will be counterproductive as it will sacrifice the interests of the nation, including the legislative institution itself," Syamsuddin told a discussion on ties between the government and the House following the inquiry into Bank Century bailout.
He expressed fear the boycott would disrupt distribution of the state budget allocated for development programs in the second semester. "If the state budget revision is hampered by the boycott, then it will adversely affect the development plans in regions."
House budget committee chairman Harry Azhar Azis from the Golkar Party had said earlier that a number of committee members from various parties had called for a boycott against Mulyani, saying they had lost faith in her. The House blames Mulyani and former Bank Indonesia governor Boediono for the botched Bank Century bailout and voted that legal measures be taken against them.
Ikhsan Mojo, director of the Institute for the Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF), doubted the boycott initiative would be effective, and would instead split the House.
He suggested the House wait until Mulyani was found guilty of violations in the bailout before they could threaten to boycott her, otherwise the public would perceive the politicians as unprofessional.
House Speaker Marzuki Alie said deliberate absence from any hearing with legitimate government representatives amounted to a violation of the Constitution. "The intention [to boycott] clearly shows there is a hidden agenda among several groups within the House," he said Friday.
Marzuki added the boycott threat was a display of double standards the legislators were adopting.
"Those politicians ask people who they blame for the fiasco to resign otherwise they will boycott any meetings with them, regardless of the fact that some of the lawmakers are implicated in legal cases," said Marzuki, who is from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party.
The boycott threat was originally initiated by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the largest opposition party in the House. Ironically, a recent Corruption Court hearing revealed that a number of PDI-P legislators, three still active, were involved in bribery cases.
Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician Mahfudz Siddiq said his party was undecided over the boycott threat, but sympathized with the move.
"There is a bit of psychological tension. If this cannot be solved, then I suggest the government send a representative of the finance minister rather than Mul-yani herself to the meetings," Mahfudz said.
"Besides, I don't think that the 2010 state budget revision is significant. From my experience, the revision is only a farce coming from a number of institutions that did not gain a sufficient budget portion in the original one."