Options whittled down, Dems compromise

Bagus BT Saragih and Hans David Tampubolon ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Tue, 03/02/2010 2:16 PM  |  Headlines

 
The parliamentary inquiry team into the Bank Century bailout looks likely to present a unanimous recommendation at a plenary meeting on Tuesday.
In the House of Representatives' inquiry committee's plenary meeting Monday, which ended late at night, the team decided it would choose one of two recommendations.
The first is that the implementation of the government's decision was at fault.
The second is that the decisions on the disbursement of the central bank's short-term liquidity support (FPJP) and on the bailout itself were wrong.
Committee chairman Idrus Marham, from the Golkar Party, hinted the two options might be merged to form get a consensus.
"We're now eyeing several differences that we'll discuss tonight," he said.
"We hope to reach a unified opinion, or at least cut down on the disparities in opinion."
The committee had earlier drafted three options for its final recommendation.
But ahead of Tuesday's plenary meeting, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party eased off from fully defending the government's decision, to saying the implementation was faulty.
An inquiry member from the Democratic Party, Benny K. Harman, said the party had made the compromise in the hope of reaching a middle ground with the other parties.
Earlier in the day, the Democratic Party was the sole proponent of a third option - that the policies by Bank Indonesia to issue Rp 689 billion (US$74 million) in short-term liquidity support to Century, and subsequent Rp 6.76 trillion bailout, were both correct and implemented properly.
While the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) - now chaired by Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa - are likely to side with the Democratic Party, the six other parties represented at the House will likely vote for the second option.
An inquiry member from the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), Akbar Faizal, said his party would stick to its guns on this third option - that both the bailout decision and its implementation were wrong.
Members of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), Golkar and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) also hinted they would go this way.
Yudhoyono, the chief patron of the Democratic Party, met Monday night with the party's legislators at his residence in Cikeas, West Java.
A document obtained from a committee member who is also part of the final recommendation formulation team revealed five initial House recommendations on the inquiry.
One recommendation listed in the document is that law enforcement agencies investigate all alleged crimes linked to the bank, including corruption and money laundering.
Another recommendation is that the government and the House revise all finance-related regulations and laws to prevent the recurrence of a similar case.
A further recommendation is for a forensic audit into the bailout fund disbursement.
Formulation team chairman Mahfudz Siddiq, from the PKS, denied the document came from the team.
"I believe the contents of the document are fallacious," he said.