Sjahril returns to Bank Indonesia<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin returned
\nto office on Wednesday after five months in detention, while the
\nHouse of Representatives special team vowed to speed up the
\ndeliberation of the government-proposed bill on the amendment of
\nthe central bank law that would remove the legal obstacle to oust
\nhim.<\/p>\n
Sjahril said that his top priority was internal consolidation,
\nparticularly after the surprising move last month by five members
\nof the board of governors to tender their resignations.<\/p>\n
\"What is needed now is internal consolidation ... I need to
\nsee what has happened during my absence and what are the pressing
\nissues,\" he told reporters in his first remarks upon his return.<\/p>\n
Sjahril was in his usual relaxed manner.<\/p>\n
Sjahril was released from the custody of the Attorney
\nGeneral's Office on Tuesday after his arrest status expired. But
\nhe has to report to the Attorney General's Office every Monday.<\/p>\n
He was detained in late June over the alleged involvement in
\nlast year's high profile Bank Bali scandal which had also been
\npartly responsible for the failure of then president B.J. Habibie
\nto be reelected.<\/p>\n
Sjahril has persistently denied the allegation.<\/p>\n
Many believe that Sjahril's detention was part of efforts by
\nPresident Abdurrahman Wahid to remove him from office and to
\nlaunch a major reshuffle at the troubled central bank.<\/p>\n
Sjahril was installed as the governor of the Bank Indonesia by
\nthe then president Soeharto in early 1998 and remained at the top
\npost until after Bank Indonesia became an independent central
\nbank in May 1999 by virtue of a new central bank law.<\/p>\n
The Abdurrahman administration has proposed to the House a
\nbill to amend the central bank law which would allow the
\ndismissal of the governor of Bank Indonesia and other deputy
\ngovernors if they failed to meet monetary targets or had not been
\nactive in office for three consecutive months.<\/p>\n
Under the existing law, the governor and his deputies cannot
\nbe removed unless they have been proven to have committed a
\ncrime, are incapacitated, or voluntarily resign.<\/p>\n
The House is currently debating the proposed bill on the
\namendment of the central bank law.<\/p>\n
Head of the House special team on the amendment of the law,
\nTheo Toemion, said that the legislators would continue to
\nintensively debate the bill, even during the one-month recess
\nthat will start on Monday.<\/p>\n
Theo said that this would allow the House to pass the bill at
\na plenary session early next year.<\/p>\n
According to the law, the President would propose candidates
\nfor the position of governor and senior deputy governor for the
\nHouse to decide, and the two Bank Indonesia top officials would
\nlater propose the candidates for deputy governor position to the
\nlegislature.<\/p>\n
The government has denied suggestions that the proposed
\namendment is engineered to remove Sjahril. Coordinating Minister
\nfor the Economy Rizal Ramli said that the amendment was made to
\nenhance the public accountability of Bank Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Separately, Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said on
\nWednesday that Sjahril's release from detention proved that the
\nproposed amendment was not aimed at ousting Sjahril.<\/p>\n
Marzuki said that the dossier on Sjahril's case would soon be
\nfiled to the Central Jakarta District Court.<\/p>\n
Asked about the possibility of his dismissal when the proposed
\namendment of the central bank has been approved by the House,
\nSjahril said: \"Personally, I am ready if the law states so.\"<\/p>\n
He declined to provide further comments on the amendment of
\nthe central bank law.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a source at the House said that the major
\nIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction
\nhad agreed with the Reform faction, a coalition of small Muslim
\npolitical parties, to champion former chief economic minister
\nKwik Kian Gie and former finance minister Bambang Sudibyo as
\ncandidates for the position of Bank Indonesia governor and senior
\ndeputy governor respectively.<\/p>\n
Asked about the resignation of senior deputy governor Anwar
\nNasution and four other deputy governors, Sjahril said that it
\nwas their personal decision.<\/p>\n
But Sjahril was quoted as saying by the Forum weekly magazine
\nthat he had been betrayed by Anwar, who had been acting Bank
\nIndonesia governor during Sjahril's absence.<\/p>\n
\"On what has happened to Bank Indonesia lately, frankly, I
\nfeel betrayed by Anwar. And what is more saddening is that Anwar
\nhas also betrayed Bank Indonesia,\" Sjahril said.<\/p>\n
\"My relationship with Anwar was initially very good, both
\npersonally and professionally. But after my detention I felt that
\nAnwar wanted to move by himself without consulting me,\" Sjahril
\ntold the magazine.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman recently proposed Anwar as a candidate for the top
\nposition at Bank Indonesia but the proposal was considered by the
\nHouse as legally defect because Sjahril is still legally governor
\nof the central bank. (rei\/bby\/01)<\/p>",
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