DPR speaker tells Sjahril to resign from his position at BI

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)