Boediono most responsible in Century bailout: PKS

Hans David Tampubolon ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 02/09/2010 10:31 AM  |  National

The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) considers former Bank Indonesia governor Boediono, now Vice President, as the one most responsible for the controversial 2008 bailout of Bank Century.

"Eighty percent of the responsibility falls on Boediono, while the other 20 percent on [Finance Minister] Sri Mulyani," a PKS executive and a deputy chairman on the House of Representatives’ inquiry team on the Bank Century case, Mahfudz Siddiq, told The Jakarta Post via a text message in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Mahfudz added that Boediono had to be held the most accountable because the investigation conducted by the committee found that the case had originated from Bank Indonesia's lack of prudence in monitoring Bank Century.

Mahfudz, however, said his party found nothing to implicate President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in the case.

The case centers on a bailout of the bank that increased tenfold to Rp 6.76 trillion (US$716 million) from its original estimate.

Seven of the nine parties, including the PKS, on the Bank Century inquiry committee concluded Monday that the government’s decision to bail out the ailing bank was flawed and smacked of corruption.

The preliminary conclusions on the bailout will likely rock the coalition government of Yudhoyono.