Boediono, Mulyani ‘to be scapegoated’ over Century

The change of tack by the President’s Democratic Party in calling for an inquiry into the Bank Century debacle may see Vice President Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani take the fall, analysts warn.

Democratic Party legislator Ruhut Sitompul said Tuesday in Jakarta that all 144 of the party’s legislators at the House of Representatives had signed the petition requesting the formation of an inquiry committee to investigate the Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million) bailout.

The establishment of the committee, fiercely opposed by the party initially, now looks inevitable, with the list of petitioners surging to more than 400 out of 560 House legislators.

Once established, the committee will have the power to summon for questioning anyone deemed responsible in the decision to bail out Century, including Boediono (the central bank governor at the time), Mulyani or even President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono himself.

In the event the President is found guilty of wrongdoing, the committee could push for his impeachment.

But critics point out the Democratic Party will likely to do all it can to prevent the President being summoned or any impeachment effort taking root, with Ruhut squarely blaming Boediono and Mulyani as those most responsible for the bailout decision.

“We, the Democratic Party, will not take sides, even on the behalf of Boediono, Raden Pardede [then secretary of the Financial System Stability Committee, or LPSK] or Mulyani,” Ruhut said.

Anas Urbaningrum, the Democratic Party chairman at the House, also hinted Boediono and Mulyani would be the ones taking the heat from the inquiry committee.

Prior to Monday’s announcement of the final audit by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), which indicated a deliberate cover-up by Bank Indonesia of misappropriation and fraud within Century, not a single Democratic Party legislator had signed the petition requesting the establishment of the inquiry committee.

The committee will also likely call the Financial Transaction Report Analysis Center (PPATK) to track how the bailout fund has been spent.

“The inclusion of the Democratic Party shows that the battle is now on the committee’s future direction,” said Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) political analyst Burhanuddin Muhtadi.

“With that in mind, the current trend shows there is move to make both Boediono and Mulyani the targets of the committee. Targeting them suits the needs of the Democratic Party, the Golkar Party and the PAN [National Mandate Party].”

Burhanuddin added that serving up Boediono and Mulyani on a silver platter would benefit the Democratic Party by deflecting attention from widespread public speculation that the bailout fund was used to save major Century depositors who were also donors to Yudhoyono’s presidential campaign.

“As for Golkar, Mulyani has a bitter history with the chairman of that party, Aburizal Bakrie,” he said.

Mulyani famously refused to intervene when the share price of PT Bumi Resources, Aburizal’s most lucrative company, nose-dived.

“As for the PAN, clearing Boediono and Mulyani from the Cabinet would give [party senior] Hatta Radjasa tremendous political clout in his capacity as the coordinating economics minister,” he said.

Burhanuddin warned that sacrificing Boediono and Mulyani would tarnish Yudhoyono’s reputation, considering how the two were his most trusted aides in the Cabinet.

Indonesia Corruption Watch’s (ICW) Emerson Yuntho said he would not be surprised if the inquiry committee only had Boediono and Mulyani in its crosshairs.