DPR speaker tells Sjahril to resign from his position at BI

JAKARTA (JP): With growing speculation that Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Sjahril Sabirin may soon be implicated in the Bank Bali scandal, House of Representatives speaker Akbar Tandjung took the lead on Wednesday in saying that he should be suspended if there was lingering suspicion over his innocence.

"He (Sjahril) should step down or be suspended from his position, for the time being anyway, to let the police and Attorney General's Office carry out their investigation into the Baligate scandal," Akbar said.

Akbar proposed that Deputy Governor Anwar Nasution be appointed as acting governor until a thorough investigation into the scandal could be completed.

"It will be difficult for police to carry out the investigation while Sjahril remains in his present position. It would be better if he was replaced by the deputy governor temporarily," he said while stressing that Sjahril's reputation should be rehabilitated if he is found to be innocent in the case.

The House, not the government, has the authority to select the BI governor and his or her deputies, according to the BI Law enacted last year.

Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said earlier this week that Sjahril could be declared a suspect if he was found guilty of breaching his oath. Contradictions were found in his testimony when compared to the testimonies of other witnesses.

According to his testimony to police, Sjahril claimed he was not present in a meeting at Hotel Mulia to discuss the disbursement of Bank Bali's claim in Bank Dagang Nasional Indonesia (BDNI), Bank Tiara and Bank Umum National (BUN).

But several witnesses said he was indeed present at the meeting. They also said former Supreme Advisory Council chairman A.A. Baramuli, former minister for the empowerment of state enterprises Tanri Abeng, and former deputy chairman of the Indonesian Banking Restructuring Agency (BPPN) Pande Lubis, were also present.

Rudy Ramli, Bank Bali owner, Pande, Tanri, Joko S. Tjandra, a Bank Bali executive, Setya Novanto, a legislator from the Golkar Party, and Erman Munzir have been declared suspects in the scandal.

Akbar on Wednesday said it would be appropriate for police and the Attorney General's Office to investigate Sjahril because of his contradictory testimony.

Separately, Bank Indonesia's Deputy Director for Legal Affairs Amir Sjarifuddin warned that hastily naming Sjahril a suspect without strong evidence could be interpreted as intervention in the central bank's affairs.

"If the evidence is not clear and if there is a prevailing political influence in the whole affair, then it could be interpreted as interference," he said.

As quoted by Antara, Amir claimed that pressure by the government has been put on Sjahril to resign.

But Sjahril has refused because if he agrees to resign under such pressure it would mean he has acquiesced to the intervention and this is a violation of the law.

Amir pointed to BI Law No. 23/1999 which states in Article 67 and 68 that both the intervening party and the intervened are considered to have breached the law.

Amir further contended that even if Sjahril is eventually named a suspect it does not necessarily mean he has to be removed from his post. (rms)