Ex-BI employees call on Sjahril to quit his job

Ex-BI employees call on Sjahril to quit his job

JAKARTA (JP): A group of former Bank Indonesia officials have
suggested that Governor Sjahril Sabirin resign from the central
bank because his determination to remain in office amid his
current status as a suspect in a high profile bank scandal was
harming the institution.

Darryl Dewantoro, a former deputy director at Bank
Indonesia, said on Sunday that the central bank could not
effectively implement its monetary policy if it was being led by
a person facing a legal problem.

He also said that Sjahril's attitude would create "friction"
among Bank Indonesia staff.

"Sjahril should be aware. He should not use the central bank's
independent status to protect his personal interests," he said.

Darryl claimed to represent "many" former Bank Indonesia
employees including ex-senior officials, but declined to disclose
their names.

The Attorney General's Office recently named Sjahril as a
suspect in the Bank Bali scandal that first emerged last year.

But Sjahril has denied any involvement in the scandal, and
said that the move was merely a political ploy by President
Abdurrahman Wahid to force him from Bank Indonesia.

He said that Abdurrahman, popularly known as Gus Dur, had
repeatedly asked him to step down from the central bank starting
late last year or risk being implicated in the banking scandal.

Sjahril said that Gus Dur wanted current deputy governor Dono
Iskandar to become the new Bank Indonesia Governor.

Under the new Bank Indonesia law, which guarantees the central
bank's independent status, a member of the board of governors can
only be dismissed by the House of Representatives if he or she
has proven guilty by the court of a crime or if he or she is
permanently incapable of carrying out the job.

Sjahril has said that he would not resign just because of
political pressure.

Sjahril's current term is to end in May 2003. Sjahril was
first appointed as governor by the former authoritarian president
Soeharto in 1998 when the central bank was not yet independent.
He was reappointed by the House in May 1999.

Meanwhile, Bank Indonesia said in a media statement on Sunday
that the board of governors had concluded in its Wednesday
meeting that Sjahril didn't have to step down from the central
bank despite his current status as a suspect.

The statement echoed Sjahril's "controversial" statement made
to the media earlier on Friday.

The board said that the status had not disturbed Sjahril's
ability to carry out his duties.

But the board added that if it effect Sjahril's ability to do
his job, it would hold another meeting to make a new decision.

The statement said that Wednesday's meeting followed a
recommendation made last week by the House Commission IX for
state budget and banking that the board of governors should
decide on the fate of Sjahril.

But senior deputy governor Anwar Nasution gave a completely
different statement on Friday, saying that the board of governors
had not discussed nor made any decision in relation to Sjaril's
fate.

Anwar said that the board of governors had no authority to
suspend any of its members because such a decision must be made
by the House as stipulated by the new central bank law. (rei)