Bambang urged to be honest at hearing on Bank Bali
Bambang urged to be honest at hearing on Bank Bali
By Reiner S
JAKARTA (JP): Following former Bank Bali president Rudy
Ramli's appearance at a hearing with the House of
Representatives, Finance Minister Bambang Subianto is expected on
Monday to disclose more details relating to the scandal involving
the bank.
Legislators have urged the finance minister to be honest and
candid in answering questions over the Bank Bali scandal at the
hearing.
Outspoken legislator Ichsanuddin Noorsy said that Bambang must
be honest and straightforward because getting to the bottom of
the scandal immediately was crucial to the recovery of the
country's economy and to ease the suffering of the more than 200
million population.
"He's foolish if he chooses not to be honest," he told The
Jakarta Post on Saturday.
"I'll work hard to get answers from him," he stressed.
Bambang is scheduled to meet with House of Representatives
Commission VIII for banking and finance on Monday afternoon.
Legislators vowed to grill the banking authority over the Bank
Bali incident.
Many applauded the commission for successfully forcing former
Bank Bali president Rudy Ramli to answer key questions
surrounding the purportedly politically motivated scandal at last
week's hearing, which was broadcast live by two TV stations.
After being grilled for hours by Ichsanuddin and several of
his colleagues, Rudy finally acknowledged he had kept a journal
on events leading up to the Bank Bali transaction.
The journal basically reveals the involvement of President
B.J. Habibie's inner circle in the scandal.
Rudy also denied authoring an earlier statement denying the
existence of the journal.
The false statement was read and circulated last month by
Minister/State Secretary Muliadi at a news conference after a
Cabinet meeting.
Rudy declined to continue answering questions after the two
key statements, saying that he was not in good health.
Nevertheless, the two key statements helped the ailing rupiah
and stocks to strengthen.
"I expect Bambang to be straightforward in answering our
questions to supplement what we have from Rudy so that the
scandal can be resolved immediately and satisfactorily," said
legislator John Manafe.
He said that as one of the country's top banking authorities,
Bambang's answers were crucial to unraveling the Bank Bali
puzzle.
The Bank Bali scandal revolves around the questionable
transfer of Rp 546 billion from the bank to PT Era Giat Prima
(EGP), a private firm allegedly linked to Habibie's inner circle,
as a fee for helping the bank recoup interbank claims.
The Habibie camp has been accused of using the money for
political purposes ahead of November's presidential election.
The commission was frustrated during an Aug. 19 hearing with
Bambang, Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin and chairman of
the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) Glenn S. Yusuf
because the three declined to confirm whether the transaction
between Bank Bali and EGP was criminal and to name the
influential people involved in the deal.
The three top banking authorities reasoned that an independent
audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers had yet to be completed.
The Australia-based international auditor completed its audit
on the Bank Bali transaction last week.
The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have
expressed dissatisfaction over the slow progress in resolving the
banking scandal.
IMF's first deputy managing director Stanley Fischer said late
last week that there were signs that the Habibie administration
was stalling on its promise to get to the bottom of the scandal.
The multilateral donors had earlier threatened they would
suspend their aid to the country if the scandal was not resolved
speedily and satisfactorily.
Many fear that aid suspension by the IMF would further cause
confidence in the rupiah and the economy to dwindle.
In a related development, Habibie's chief adviser, the head of
the Supreme Advisory Council (DPA) A.A. Baramuli, denied on
Saturday any involvement in the scandal.
He also said he did not falsify the statement read by Muladi.
He said the statement, supposedly signed by Rudy, was mailed
to his home address.
Baramuli was speaking to reporters after playing tennis with
State Minister of Public Housing and Settlement Theo L. Sambuaga
at the Hilton Hotel.
President B.J. Habibie said on Friday that it was Baramuli who
gave him the false statement.
Baramuli said he was ready to be summoned by the House over
the Bank Bali scandal, but not because of the journal.
"It (the journal) is an anonymous letter," he said, pointing
out that Rudy did not sign it.
According to the journal, Baramuli is one of the high-ranking
state officials who actively supported the Bank Bali transaction.
(rei)