Former Indonesian finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati believes democratic reforms in Indonesia are being "hijacked" by powerful reactionary forces, a report said on Wednesday.

She said vested interests within the business and political elite opposed to her uncompromising efforts to bring the economy under the rule of law effectively ousted her earlier this month.

Her resignation to take a senior position at the World Bank has been seen as a major blow to reform in the country of some 240 million people, which emerged from 32 years of dictatorship under military strongman Suharto in 1998.

"The [Indonesian] business community is not supportive of having the system co-opted for very personal, narrow interests," she told The Financial Times.

"If they start to allow one party to hijack it, is at the cost of everyone else... It is really a concern. It is a battle for Indonesia now."

She pointed the finger specifically at Aburizal Bakrie, a powerful business tycoon who denies any conflict of interest between his commercial and political activities as head of the Golkar party.

Golkar was Suharto's political vehicle and has never been in opposition, despite seeing its electoral support dwindle in the democratic era. It is now a pivotal member of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's ruling coalition.

Bakrie initiated months of parliamentary attacks against Indrawati, an economist and independent policy expert, over a controversial bank bailout despite no hard evidence being found to support allegations of corruption.

Days after her shock resignation on May 4, Yudhoyono installed Bakrie as the head of a new "secretariat" to oversee the coalition parties, handing him a position of privilege at the heart of the executive.

Indrawati denied any knowledge of a rumoured deal between Yudhoyono and Bakrie to oust her as part of a trade-off to ensure the smooth functioning of the government in Yudhoyono's second and final term.

She said her voluntary departure was based on the cold "calculation" that her position was untenable and a new minister might be able to advance vital reforms where she could not. "Also, the use of money to mobilise public opinion made me less effective," she said.