Vendetta against Sjahril<\/p>\n
The series of sagas encountered by Bank Indonesia Governor
\nSjahril Sabirin since February -- starting with his rejection of
\nthe request by President Abdurrahman Wahid that he resign from
\nhis post, his subsequent arrest on corruption charges in late
\nJune and continuing with the ongoing political battle at the
\nHouse of Representatives for his ousting from the bank -- all
\nconvey a clear message: If you cross the President, he will use
\nthe power of the law against you. But if you remain on his good
\nside, even if you are suspected of corruption you can sit back
\nand relax, like several debtor tycoons who can supposedly get
\naround the law.<\/p>\n
That is the strongest impression one gets after two weeks of
\nthe government-House debate on the proposed amendments to the
\n1999 central bank law. The more reasons the government put forth
\nto the House to back up its proposed amendments, the more obvious
\nit became that Sjahril is the real target of what has been
\ntrumpeted as a drive to clean up the central bank and make it
\nmore accountable.<\/p>\n
The focus of the proposed amendments is on provisions that
\nwill make it much easier for the government to replace the
\ncentral bank's board of governors. One new provision initially
\nrequested stipulates that a board member can be removed from
\noffice if he or she cannot perform his or her duties for three
\nconsecutive months. This provision supposedly applied to Sjahril,
\nwho was still under house arrest at that time. But upon realizing
\nlater that Sjahril would soon end his detention period and that
\nthe law could not be made retroactive, the government tabled
\nanother stipulation which states that once the amended law
\nbecomes effective the incumbent board of governors shall disband.
\nSjahril was released from house detention on Tuesday and resumed
\nhis duties on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The government, especially Abdurrahman, is so obsessed with
\nousting Sjahril that it sometimes appears stupid and commits
\nsilly mistakes. The government even threaten to liquidate the
\ncentral bank for being responsible for the alleged misuse of
\nbillions of dollars of emergency liquidity support to ailing
\nbanks in 1997-1998. This threat prompted five members of the
\nboard, including then acting governor Anwar Nasution, to resign
\nin mid-November, and the President promptly named three
\ncandidates, including Anwar, for the governorship. Of course the
\nnominations were legally defect because Sjahril, though inactive
\nat that time, legally remains the governor.<\/p>\n
Upon realization that it was impossible to topple Sjahril
\nwithout first amending the central bank law, a process that may
\ndrag on until late January, the government tried another ploy by
\nclaiming he might be involved in a banknote counterfeiting case.
\nChief economics minister Rizal Ramli asserted on Thursday and
\nAttorney General Marzuki Darusman implied on Friday that Sjahril
\ncould be implicated in and would be held responsible for the
\ncounterfeiting case even though Sjahril's name has never been
\nmentioned in the hearings at the South Jakarta and Surabaya
\ncourts which tried main defendants in the case. Would the
\ngovernment be so desperate as to make another mindless mistake by
\nrearresting Sjahril as a suspect in this fake money case? Or is
\njust another case of character assassination targeted at Sjahril?<\/p>\n
By describing all the inconsistencies, we do not mean to say
\nthat the central bank has always been clean of corruption and
\ncollusion, especially under former president Soeharto's
\nadministration. Nor do we intend to proclaim that Sjahril was
\nentirely uninvolved in either the Bank Bali scandal or the
\nalleged misuse of the billions of dollars in emergency loans.
\nAfter all, Sjahril was governor of the central bank in February
\n1998 when banks were given the loans.<\/p>\n
What we do know though is that Sjahril was part of the team in
\n1998 which decided to close two insolvent banks closely
\nassociated with Abdurrahman, then chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama
\norganization.<\/p>\n
The basic issue here is why the government has not pursued the
\nmatter through the due process of law. Please note that all
\nprimary defendants in the Bank Bali case have been acquitted of
\nall charges by the court and that none of the bankers or former
\nbankers as well as officials implicated in the emergency loan
\ncase has so far been brought to court.<\/p>\n
If Abdurrahman is really serious about cleaning up the central
\nbank, why haven't the debates about the amendments to the central
\nbank law focused on the provisions of accountability and
\nperformance standards? No matter how worthy the goal to prevent
\nthe central bank from abusing its power is, the means matter just
\nas much as the end result.<\/p>\n
Both the government and the House, in their debate on the
\nproposed amendments to the central bank law, should realize that
\nthe drawn-out row about the central bank has begun to take its
\ntoll on the market's confidence in Bank Indonesia's ability to
\nformulate and see through policy and in the efforts to strengthen
\nthe distressed financial system.<\/p>",
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