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)