House delays hearing on Bank Bali scandal<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives made a surprise
\ndecision on Tuesday to delay for another week a scheduled public
\nhearing with the country's banking authorities over the
\ndisclosure of the high-profile Bank Bali scandal.<\/p>\n
Critics said the move was simply buying time for efforts to
\ncover up the scandal, in which close associates of President B.J.
\nHabibie are allegedly implicated.<\/p>\n
House leaders gave unclear explanations for the delay of the
\nSept. 2 hearing session in which Finance Minister Bambang
\nSubianto, Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin, and chairman
\nof the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) Glenn S. Yusuf
\nwere to give their findings in the scandal.<\/p>\n
Lili Asdjudiredja, deputy head of House Commission VIII on
\nbanking and the state budget, said Bambang and Sjahril asked on
\nMonday in two separate letters to the House for a delay, saying
\nthe Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) needed another week to complete
\nits audit of the Bank Bali case.<\/p>\n
\"The hearing session is delayed because the BPK audit has yet
\nto be completed,\" he told reporters before attending a closed
\nmeeting of House faction leaders on the scandal.<\/p>\n
Lili said the House decided to delay the hearing session with
\nBank Indonesia to Sept. 8, and to Sept. 14 with the finance
\nministry and IBRA.<\/p>\n
But BPK chief Satrio B. Yudono said earlier on Tuesday that
\nthe agency had already completed the audit with the assistance of
\ninternational auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers.<\/p>\n
\"We were ready to submit the audit results to the House today,
\nbut this morning we received a letter from the House giving us
\nmore time, until Sept. 7,\" he told reporters at his office.<\/p>\n
House deputy chairman Hari Sabarno sent a letter dated Aug. 31
\nto BPK saying: \"In order for the Bank Bali case to be completely
\nrevealed at the hearing session, we expect to receive the audit
\nresult at the latest on Sept. 7, 1999.\"<\/p>\n
The House earlier asked BPK to complete its audit by Aug. 31.<\/p>\n
Hari confirmed he had sent the letter, but failed to explain
\nwhy the House decided to extend the BPK audit deadline.<\/p>\n
He said only that he signed the letter because he was told to.<\/p>\n
He added that he was unaware of the letters from Bambang and
\nSjahril.<\/p>\n
The Bank Bali scandal revolves around the alleged illegal
\ntransfer of Rp 546 billion (about US$80 million) from the bank to
\nPT Era Giat Prima (EGP) as a commission fee for helping the bank
\nrecoup interbank claims on closed-down banks guaranteed by IBRA,
\nwhich is under the Ministry of Finance.<\/p>\n
The fund transfer was leaked to the press in late July,
\ncausing public anger and shaking the local financial market,
\nparticularly as more evidence pointed to the involvement of
\nHabibie's inner circle in the scandal.<\/p>\n
EGP is a company owned by two businessmen linked to Habibie's
\nloyalists in the government and to the ruling Golkar Party.<\/p>\n
There are allegations that Habibie's camp was trying to raise
\nfunds through EGP's transactions with Bank Bali to help finance
\nHabibie's presidential race in November.<\/p>\n
Although the money has been returned, there have been public
\ncalls for the prosecution of influential people involved in the
\nscandal.<\/p>\n
Outspoken Golkar legislator Ichsanuddin Noorsy criticized
\nHouse leaders over the delay.<\/p>\n
\"People now question the commitment and seriousness of the
\nHouse leaders to uncover the Bank Bali scandal,\" he said,
\npointing to the Aug. 20 demand by House Commission VIII to
\nimmediately investigate the scandal and dismiss all ministers and
\nhigh-ranking government officials involved.<\/p>\n
\"The delay has further strengthened speculation that there's a
\npolitical conspiracy to reach a compromise resolution,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Dubbed Baligate, the scandal is seen as a major obstacle to
\nHabibie's campaign for the November presidential election.<\/p>\n
Lili, also a Golkar legislator, dismissed Ichsanuddin's
\nconcern.<\/p>\n
\"The delay is a technical matter. We don't have suspicions
\nthat the delay is meant to buy time or is a cover-up strategy,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
\"The investigation continues despite the delay,\" he added.<\/p>\n
BPK's Yudono conceded.<\/p>\n
He said the public should not worry, saying that the more time
\ngiven for the investigation process, the better the result would
\nbe.<\/p>\n
Asked to comment on concerns that he was a Habibie loyalist,
\nYudono said: \"You just wait and see. BPK is now different to what
\nit used to be in the past.\"<\/p>\n
\"It's true that I'm close to Habibie. But the conditions are
\nnow different. Habibie has stayed for quite a long time overseas
\nso he values independence,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"It's now really different to what it used to be in the past,
\nwhen BPK should first see the president before reporting to the
\nHouse,\" he added.<\/p>\n
The Bank Bali scandal has turned into a political battle
\nbetween the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI
\nPerjuangan) and Habibie's so-called presidential election
\n\"success team\".<\/p>\n
State Secretary and Minister of Justice Muladi last week
\ncirculated a copy of statements from former bank Bali president
\nRudy Ramli denying the existence of a diary containing the
\nchronology of his successive meetings with several ministers and
\nHabibie's top aides before the bank's transaction with EGP.<\/p>\n
A diary said to be Rudy's was circulated among the press by
\nPDI Perjuangan. The party said Rudy handed over the diary after
\nasking a party executive to be his lawyer.<\/p>\n
A source said Rudy was under pressure from the Habibie camp to
\ndeny the existence of the diary.<\/p>\n
\"Rudy was accompanied by his lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution to
\nsee Habibie at his place on Aug. 20,\" the source said. (rei)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/house-delays-hearing-on-bank-bali-scandal-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}