Final decision on BCA is mine, says Laksamana

Final decision on BCA is mine, says Laksamana

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Within days of forming a team to decide on the winning bidder
for the sale of Bank Central Asia, State Minister of State
Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi stressed that he was the one who
would make the final call to decide the winner.

Laksamana told reporters on Friday that the main aim of
establishing the team was nothing more than to hear independent
opinions.

"Even without the presence of the others (team members), after
financial advisers have made their input, the decision will still
rest with me," he said.

His comments came as a response to earlier remarks by Bank
Indonesia governor Sjahril Sabirin, saying he could not join the
government team to decide on the winning bid for the sale of the
government's 51 percent shareholding in BCA.

Citing Sjahrir's rejection as no problem, Laksamana clarified
that establishing the team was merely a way of enabling other
officials to discuss the issue before making a final decision.

Sjahril has said he could not join the team for fear of a
conflict of interest, as it was the central bank that had
conducted the fit-and-proper test on the bidders.

"BI cannot be involved in selecting the winner. Our job has
been simply to carry out the fit-and-proper test on the bidders,
and we've already done that," he said.

Sjahrir's statement came hard on the heels of IBRA chairman I
Putu Ary Suta's objection to joining the team.

Ary Suta has been arguing that taking over the authority of
IBRA in the BCA tender process was a violation of government
Regulation No. 17/1999 on IBRA, saying that any move against it
would require a revision to the regulation.

However, Laksamana insisted that his decision was in line with
the existing regulations.

PP No.17/1999's chapter four, article nine, section two
stipulates that sales of assets worth more than Rp 1 trillion
(US$100 million) can only be carried out with the approval of the
minister.

The team in question supposedly comprises Laksamana, the
finance minister, Bank Indonesia governor and IBRA chairman.

The government first came up with the idea of establishing the
team last week, with Laksamana saying the move was necessary so
as to secure the best solution.

The decision was taken just as IBRA was finalizing the closing
stages of its review on the remaining bidders, namely two
consortia led by a U.S. investment firm Farallon Capital and
Standard Chartered Bank Plc.

The decision amounts to the stripping of authority from IBRA,
which had been in charge of the BCA sale process from the
beginning.

The objections by Ary Suta, and now Sjahrir, to the plan raise
doubts on whether or not the government can complete the crucial
BCA tender process as scheduled.

Any more delay will jeopardize the optimism that has been
growing in the market for success in the sale.

Brushing off such an opinion, Laksamana guaranteed that the
announcement of the winner would be made on schedule, which is
early next week.