The SRI Mulyani Party

Yesterday the news media reported about the submission of application for registration of a  new political party called S.R.I ( Serikat Rakyat Independen = Independent People Union) with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.

The party claimed (here) that it already has 33 branches i.e one branch in every 33 provinces of Indonesia, therefore its leaders are confident that it would be eligible to participate in the 2014 general election.

But the most interesting thing about this new party is its plan to nominate Sri Mulyani (48), former Finance Minister currently Managing Director of the World Bank, as a candidate in the 2014 presidential election..
Unfortunately, Sri Mulyani has never confirm about this.

The plan to nominate Sri Mulyani received various response from the public, one of them is human rights activist Hendardi who said (here) that her nomination may be blocked by the Bank Century scandal : the unclear 6,7 Trillion Rupiah Bail Out of a privately owned bank when she was Finance Minister.

Hendardi said that Sri Mulyani can only be nominated as candidate president if the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) clear her name. The problem is that the KPK has not investigate her until now.

I agree with Hendardi's opinion about Sri Mulyani, but I am not sure whether or not the SRI Party will get the approval to participate in the 2014 general election. Even if the party can get said approval, to nominate a presidential candidate it needs to get 20% of the seats in the national parliament, or 25% of the total legitimate votes in the general election (here). Otherwise, it has to form a coalition with other parties.

So, in my opinion Sri Mulyani's political future in Indonesia is still very uncertain.

The case would be different if Sri Mulyani could join forces with big political parties like the ruling Democrat Party, of course her name should be cleared first by the KPK.
Or, perhaps with the Golkar Party but it would be almost impossible because it has been trying hard get her down for the Bank Century scandal.

Susno the Whistle Blower

Yesterday, Prosecutors at the South Jakarta District Court has demanded the court to sentence former Chief of Detectives of the National Police Comnr Gen. Susno Duadji 7 years in Jail and pay Fine of 500 Million Rupiah.

The prosecutors indicted Susno for allegedly receiving bribes amounting to 500 million Rupiah from a legal case broker and another bribe he allegedly received  when he was Chief of Regional Police in West Java in 2001.

Many people, especially his lawyers and the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), said that the demand was wrong because most witnesses have testified in favor of Susno in the court  trial.

They suspected that the demand was part of a conspiracy to silence Susno who has revealed many big crimes against the state such as tax crimes committed by former Taxman Gayus Tambunan and 151 companies he handled, involvement of high ranking Police officers etc.

Beside that, Susno has testified in favor of former Chief of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Antasari Azhar who was later sentenced to jail for murder of a director of state own company.

In my opinion, Susno Duadji is a very unique person. When he was still Chief of Detectives, Susno has expressively shown animosity toward the KPK which he dubbed as Gecko compared with the Police which he dubbed as Crocodile. He was so mad at the KPK after they found that Susno has helped the release of big sum of money to a suspect in the Bank Century case.

Considering the above, I hope that Susno and his team of lawyers would present a statement of defense supported by evidences that would convince the Court judges.

The Alanda Kariza Story

Alanda Kariza (Right) and her mother (Left)

Alanda Kariza (19) is an Indonesian writer who published her first novel at the age of 14, and has been appointed as our country's representative in international youth activities.

Recently, Alanda wrote an emotional plea : "Mother, 10 years in Jail, Rp 10 Billion" on her blog after the Prosecutors at the Central Jakarta District Court demanded a 10-years Jail term and 10 Billion Rupiah Fine for her mother, Arga Tirta Kirana, former Head of Legal Division of Bank Century, on 25 January.

Here are some parts of her writing that I quoted from The Jakarta Globe :

“ Mother is alleged to have been involved in the disbursement of a number of problematic credits, dubbed command credits’ because the funds were withdrawn without the required procedures. A number of credits were withdrawn without mother’s signature as the head of the legal corporate division. It doesn’t make sense.”

She said that the 'command credit' was based on the order Robert Tantular, the bank's majority shareholder and Hermanus Hasan Muslim, the bank's former President Director..
She said that her mother did not deserve to be jailed longer than Tantular who is serving a nine-year sentence for bank fraud, Hermanus only six years, and the infamous former tax man Gayus Tambunan, sentenced to just seven years in jail.

What surprised me was that although she was charged with a crime that carries a 10 years jail term, however she was not arrested. Usually the Police and Prosecutors arrest suspects of crimes that carries a minimum of 5-years jail term based on the Criminal Procedural Law. Besides, she implied that her mother has been preparing a Defense Statement to counter the Prosecutor's demand.

In order to know more, I visited the blog of lawyer Anggara and read the post Belajar dari Tulisan Alanda Kariza (Learning from Alanda Kariza's Writing) which mentioned that Alanda's mother has been defended by a team of lawyers that includes the famous Humphrey Djemat.
Later on, I read on Primair Online Humphrey Djemat helped Arga Tirta Kirana in the court case on Pro Bono basis, because they both studied Law together at the University of Indonesia. 

Alanda's above mentioned writing has drawn people's sympathy to her mother, which can be seen from the comments in Twitter, Facebook, TV, and the appearance of many supporters during the trial last Thursday. At that day Arga presented her Defence Statement to the Court explaining among others that she start working with Bank Century in 2005, about things which happened not according to procedure such as credits withdrawn from the bank, or appointment of her assistants, but were based on instructions from Robert Tantular and Hermanus Hasan Muslim.

Alanda's writing has received contradictory reactions from public, some alleged that her mother has been victimized by others who were far more responsible for the controversial Bank Century Bail out case, others said that she was really responsible. Many others said that the letter and its effect are just part of a scenario to distract public opinion from people who are supposed to be more responsible from this vase.

In this case I think it would be better if we just wait and see how the Court proceedings will end.

Photo :  Courtesy of alandakariza.com

Susno: From Sinner to Saint?

Police Commissioner General Susno Duadji (55) is currently the most popular Policeman in Indonesia today.

But unlike most public officers who gained popularity when they were serving offices, Susno became popular after he resigned on November 2009.

Before that he was so unpopular due to his hostility to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in which he dubbed the KPK as Gecko, and the Police as Crocodile, implying that the former is weaker than the later. This remark was made after KPK learned about his connections with Corruption Cases investigated by KPK, a.o the mysterious 6,7 Trillion Rupiah Bailout of Bank Century and Anggoro Wijaya case.

After he resigned, Susno revealed undisclosed Police information to the public a.o by testifying against the Prosecution in the Court trial of former Chief of KPK Antasari Azhar, about middlemen in the handling of Police and Taxation cases that involve high ranking Police officers and the Tax Office. Some of the Taxmen and the middlemen have been arrested

Yesterday,  Susno was arrested by the Police on charges of Corruption and receiving Bribes. This arrest was protested by the Chief of the Constitutional Court and non-government organizations.

I hope that Susno's case would be processed according to laws based on the principle of presumption of innocence.

Please find below articles related to the above post.
- Susno Duadji (Wikipedia)
- Susno Duadji: Quo Vadis? (Multibrand)
- Susno Taken into Custody (Kompas) 
- Kapolri: Penangkapan Susno Sesuai Prosedur (Yahoo/Liputan6)
- Ketua MK: Seharusnya Susno tidak ditahan (Yahoo/Kompas)
- Penahanan Susno Melanggar HAM (Kompas)
- Setara Institute Kecam Penanhanan Susno Duadji (Tribune News)
.

Who will benefit from Sri Mulyani's resignation?

Yesterday, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani (47) resigned from her cabinet post to accept a job as Managing Director of the World Bank starting 1 June 2010.
Later that day, President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono (SBY) proudly announced that he has accepted Sri Mulyani's resignation so that she can take the prestigious international position.

This is a dramatic development of the Bank Century bailout case, in which the Parliament has blamed Sri Mulyani and Vice President Boediono responsible for the flow of 6.7 trillion Rupiah state money to save the bank.

Sri Mulyani's resignation has made most people in Indonesia aware that all the mambo jambo made by politicians in the Parliament (DPR) were only political maneuvers based on their own selfish motives.

In this regards, I would like to quote an article in The Jakarta Post  (below) about who will benefit from Sri Mulyani's resignation :

1. Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie. Mulyani said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal in mid
    January, she believed her past actions had offended Aburizal.
2. Former tax chief Hadi Purnomo (now chairman of the Supreme Audit Agency). Hadi remains an influential
    figure at the tax office with numerous disciples despite being sacked by Mulyani in mid 2006. Hadi was
    reportedly furious over his dismissal.
3. Smugglers. A business group close with the police and military may have financed street rallies against 
    Mulyani after its illicit businesses were interrupted by Mulyani’s reform program.
4. Islamic parties (PKS, PAN, PPP).  Several lawmakers were reportedly resented  Mulyani’s refusal to
    contribute to the recent general election.
5. Mining companies: because of tax problems related to unpaid value-added tax.
6. Companies linked to SBY’s inner-circle: Several companies have been netted by Mulyani in tax dodging
    cases.

With Sri Mulyani's departure, Indonesia and the Indonesian people loose a very brave non particant leader who is a reformist, a seer of vision, and miner of truth, incomparable to all those politicians at the DPR who have been fooling around with her in the last 8 months.

Last but not least I would like to wish that Sri Mulyani will be successful with her new job, and I hope that she would want to return to Indonesia before the next national elections in 2014 so that Indonesia can have a much better hope for the future.

Bank Century Bailout - Final

After two days of meetings, members of the House of Representatives decided that the Bank Century Bailout on November 2008 which cost 6,7 Trillion Rupiah of taxpayer's money was illegitimate.

During last night's meeting, 325 members belonging to six political parties, i.e Golkar, PDIP, PKS, PPP, Gerindra and Hanura, voted against the Bailout. And 212 members belonging to three political parties, i.e the ruling Democrat Party, PKB and PAN, voted in favor of the Bailout.
PPP's decision was surprising considering people presumed that it will be in favour of the Bailout.

Considering that Golkar, PKS and PPP are members of President SBY's Coalition government, led by his Democrat Party supported by PAN and PKB, the result of voting has changed the balance of power at the House, and therefore shaken the government's power in the coming years.

Bank Century Case Update

After four months of "investigation", yesterday the House of Representative's Special Commitee on the Bank Century case conducted its final session. As predicted, the session was chaotic, inside and outside the House's building.

Outside, around 20,000 students, anti-corruption activists and other activists demonstrated to give some sort of pressure to the 560 members of the House to make proper decision on the mysterious bailout that costed 6.7 Trillion Rupiah of tax payers money.

And inside, members of the House defended their perceptions of the case, as follows :
1) Four political parties (PDIP,Golkar, PKS & Hanura) claimed that the bail out was illegally and
    demanded that former Governor of Central Bank, current Vice President Boediono, and Finance 
    Minister Sri Mulyani should be responsible;
2) Two political parties, including the ruling Democrat Party(PD), claimed that the bail out was legal
3) Three political parties claimed that the bail out was illegal without mentioning any names.

The Democrat Party (PD) was very annoyed that the above four parties that have been very agressive includes two members of their Coalition i.e Golkar and PKS. PD tried to lobby both parties to change their stance. One of PD's lobbyists is President SBY's Special Assistant for Natural Disasters i.e. Andi Arief who accused Muhamad Makhbuhin of PKS of issuing an unsettled LC amounting   to US$ 22,500,000.00 with the Bank Century.

After the Head of Special Committee Idrus Markham finished delivering his final report, the House Speaker Marzuki Alie closed the session causing overwhelming protests from the opposing members.
After several hours, the House leaders announced that the Session will be continued the next day i.e. today, during which they would make decision on the case by voting.

I only hope that the members of the House would make their decisions on this cased merely based on the best interests of the people of Indonesia, not on their political parties' interests (I'll keep my fingers crossed).

Source :  Various mass media (TV, Radio, Papers, websites)

Are Boediono & Sri Mulyani Guilty?

At the final session of the People's Representative Council last night, four political parties i.e. PDIP, Hanura and 2 members of President SBY's coalition: Golkar and PKS, stated that the Bail Out of Bank Century has been done illegally.

They accused former Governor of Central Bank and current Vice President Boediono, and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani responsible for such illegal action, and urge the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to investigate the case.

Earlier, SBY's Democrat Party stated that there is nothing wrong with the Bail Out and it has been done legally.

Meanwhile, other members of the coalition i.e. PPP, PAN and PKB, and the opposition party Gerindra stated that there were indications of corruption and illegalities in the bailout, but they only mentioned institutions but no names.

For details, please click here, here and here.

I hope that the above decisions are made based on the best interests of the people of Indonesia, thus not just part of their political effort to gain power.

28 January Protest

Thousands of students, workers, NGO activists held demonstrations in Jakarta and others cities in Indonesia today to protest against the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono (SBY) which celebrated its 100th days in office.

The topic of their protests are the same i.e. wide spread corruption, Bank Century bailout, series of injustice, poverty, et cetera, et cetera. Besides, they demanded the resignation that those responsible for the allegedly mysterious bailout of Bank Century i.e. V.P Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani.

In Jakarta, the protests were held at the Presidential Place and the People's Representative Council.
 
Although there were reports of burning of effigies and photos of SBY and Boediono, and Police arrest of some violent demonstrators, however in general they have been quite peaceful. Thank God!

For detailed media reports, please clik here, here and here.

I am glad that the protests went quite peacefully, thanks to the protesters who were able to control themselves and the security officers for not over reacting in doing their duty.
I hope that the camaraderie and energy for said protests can also be used for other purposes which would bring much more benefits to our society, such as campaigning cleanliness, maintain environment, healthy life, et cetera, et cetera.

Photo: Courtesy of Detik.

The First 100 Days

On 28 January, the government of President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono (SBY) will celebrate its first 100 days in office.

In this connection, SBY has just released his third song album consisting of nine songs he recorded together with famous pop singers like Vidi Aldiano Tantowi Yahya, Rio Febrian, Fariz RM.

Meanwhile, a group of students, non government organizations, and other elements in society who called themselves Petisi 28 Coalition plan to launch a big demonstration in Jakarta on that day. Their objectives are to voice their allegations that the government failed to maintain justice, eradicate corruption and poverty. This is is shown by the mysterious flow of Rp 6.7 Trillion of tax payers' money to bail out Bank Century, and the conspiracy to criminalize the Corruption Eradication Corruption (KPK).
They also accused the government of adopting a neo liberal economic policy that do not benefit the majority of the country's people. In spite of protests made by industrialists the government insists that participation in the Asean-China Free Trade Agreement starting 1 January 2010 must go on without delay. This will cause the closing down of many local industries and massive lay down of workers.
The coalition demanded the resignation of Vice President Boediono and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani who were allegedly responsible for the Bank Century bail out.

But unfortunately SBY would not be around to listen to those protests because he will be visiting the Province of Banten.

For detailed media reports on the above, please click here, here, here.

I hope that the government would pay serious attention to the people's requests, and always base its policies on the interests of the majority of the people, otherwise they would look for alternative solutions offered by radical religious groups, socialist groups or even communist groups.

Corruption Fighter is Facing Death Sentence

During yesterday's trial at the District Court of Central Jakarta, the Prosecutors have requested the judges to punish former Anti Corruption agency (KPK) Chief Antasari Azhar with a death sentence for murdering Nasrudin Zulkarnaen.

This request is surprising because in previous court trials some key witnesses have denied allegations made by the Prosecutor and the Police, among others as follows :
1) Pol. Colonel Wiliardi Wizar who was accused of coordinating the murder has withdrawn his testimony
against Antasari, he said that Deputy Chief Detective Insp. Gen. Hadiatmoko has pressured him to testify that Antasari ordered the murder of Nasrudin. After that he apologized to Antasari for all the trouble.
2) Although Hadiatmoko denied by saying he has nothing to do with the case, but his ex boss Susno Duaji
testified that the National Police Chief Bambang Danuri has assigned Hadiatmoko to handle the case. 
3) Forensic expert Mu'nim stated that his Coroner's report was not appropriate  because  when he received Nasrudin's body, it was already manipulated i.e head baldly shaves and wound on his forehead stitched.
4) The ability of the civilians who were accused of executing the murder were in doubt

The above development, and previous unsuccessful attempts to link KPK Deputy Chief Bibit and Chandra with corruption charges, have caused public speculation that Antasari may have been a victim of conspiracy to undermine the KPK. For detailed media reports on the above, please click here, here and here.

I hope that the court's judges would wisely consider all aspects, especially justice and legal certainty, before passing their judgment on this very high profile case, so that justice shall prevail and the law enforcement agencies can focus attention on important matters like the mysterious flow of Rp 6.7 Trillion of tax payers' money to Bank Century.

Photo : Courtesy of The Jakarta Globe.

Sri Mulyani, the Finance Minister

The Special Committee of the Parliament (DPR) has been inquiring officials allegedly involved in the flow of tax payers' money amounting to Rp 6.7 Trillion for bailing out Bank Century.

The officials include current Vice President, and former governor of Bank Indonesia (central bank) Boediono, former Vice President Jusuf Kalla and current Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani.

Compared to the others, Sri Mulyani's appearance is much better, she answered questions calmly, to the point and often smiling. Here is an article about her in Kompas.

Sri Mulyani, Two Thumbs up yet Rebuked

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com — The inquiry committee investigating Century Bank is satisfied with Sri Mulyani's answers, however one of her remarks later provoked sharp criticism. Sri Mulyani, also called Mbak Ani, who is the former chief of the Committee for Financial Sector Stability, had her hearing before the committee, Wednesday, House of Rep. building, Jakarta.

"Although there's still much difference in diametral view, I appreciate Sri Mulyani. She was outspoken with good articulation," said inquiry member Hendrawan Supratikno from PDI-P fraction, for example he also mentioned the time when Sri Mulyani answered about the legal premise of the Coordinating Committee's existence.

Another inquiry committee member from PDI-P, Ganjar Pranowo, even said that Sri Mulyani, the finance minister, had been more prepared to face the inquiry committee compared to the former Bank Indonesia (BI) governor, Boediono, who is now VP.

"No answer was misdirecting. Overall, our colleagues aren't too tense. She didn't answer like Boediono or the others from BI."

Bailout benefitted the people?

However, when Sri Mulyani mentioned during her hearing that the Century Bank bailout disbursement, worth Rp. 6.7 trillion, benefitted the people, inquiry committee member Gayus Lumbuun from PDI-P fraction immediately criticized her.

"The Rp. 6.7 trillion bailout benefitted only a few. Ironically the money came from the people," declared Gayus, Wednesday.

Furthermore, Gayus continued, the indicators used to support Sri Mulyani's statement were the value of rupiah, the capital market, and BI's interest rate. "Is this empiric reality or just imagination? Didn't you read the suicide news because somebody didn't believe in the saving refund?"

Gayus added that Sri Mulyani's statement was very disturbing. Especially if considering the amount of money that has been disbursed. Unfortunately, Sri Mulyani didn't rise to answer this statement.

Ruhut Sitompul

Meetings of the Special Committee of the People's Representative Council (DPR) for inquiry of the mysterious  flow of Rp. 6.7 Trillion money to Bank Century is getting indecent every day.

Last night, several TV stations show the committee's latest meeting in which there was a disgusting argument between the Vice Chairman of Committee i.e. Gayus Lumbuun, and a member of the governing Democrat Party i.e. Ruhut Sitompul who called Gayus: Bangsat! a very harsh Indonesian word which is impolite to translate in English.

For detailed media reports on the above, please click here, here, here.

Although Ruhut as a lawyer and member of President SBY's political party may always defend his boss and party, however as representative of the people who is paid by tax paying people, he should always behave according to the decent ethics and customs of the people of Indonesia, especially now that people's trust on the DPR is quite low.

Photo:  Courtesy of Kompas.

Bank Century & Political Parties

Tonight I watched TVRI's talk show: Dialog Aktual discussing about the Bank Century case, featuring Roy Suryo, member of Parliament (DPR) from the Democratic Party, Ganjar Pranowo, member of DPR from the Indonesian Democratic Party in Struggle (PDIP), and Ihsan Mojo, an economic observer from the NGO: INDEF.

The speakers discussed about illegal transfer of money to certain people, DPR's plan to set up a special commission to inquire about the case, who be the chief of said commission, etc., etc.

One interesting thing that I noted was Roy Suryo's revelation that some of the money was allegedly transferred to Murdaya Poo, the recently dismissed Treasurer of PDIP, husband of Hartati Poo, supporter of the governing Democratic Party, who filed a Police report against the NGO Benteng Demokrasi Rakyat (Bendera) who accused her of receiving money from Bank Century.

For details, please click here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Roy Suryo's above revelation is very interesting, considering that until now the possibility of transfer of money from Bank Century to political parties has always been denied.

What's wrong with Bank Century?

On November 2008 the Indonesian government took over Bank Century, a private bank jointly owned by Indonesian and Pakistani shareholders, which has suffered a loss of Rp. 7.3 Trillion.

According to Finance Minister Sri Mulyani, the decision was made because at that time the national economy was not stable and the bank was too big to fail that its collapse would have great impact on Indonesia's entire banking system.

Due to this condition, the People's Representative Council (DPR) permitted the government to inject Rp 1.3 Trillion to the bank.
However, by the end of the first half of 2009, the government-run Deposit Insurance Agency (LPS) had injected into the bank a total of Rp 6.76 trillion ($669 million) to shore up liquidity and pay off liabilities, therefore almost 4 times than the amount agreed by the DPR.
As a result, in the first half of 2009 Bank Century was able to have a net profit of Rp 140 billion during the period.

The DPR was very surprised with the very large increase in the amount of money injected to the bank, so its members requested the State Audit Agency (BPK) to conduct special audit on the bank.

This case is extremely interesting because the flow of taxpayer's money was done not long before the Parliamentary election (April) and Presidential election (July), but the news about it was widely exposed afterwards.
Further, the state authority that supervise banking, Bank Indonesia, at that time was headed by Boediono, the running mate of Presidential candidate i.e. incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono.
Furthermore, the foreign major shareholders are not available for questioning because they have runaway.

Due to which facts, many people have requested the government to give transparent explanation, some even suspected political motives behind the flow of money, especially after Vice President Jusuf Kalla described the flow of money would implicate many important people in this country. And the Commission for Eradication of Corruption(KPK) has been urged to investigate the case.

For details on the above, please click here, here, here, here, here and here.

It is very sad that the non transparent flow of large amount of tax payers' money could take place at a time when Indonesia's economic and financial conditions are not good. I hope that the case would be revealed to the public as soon as possible and anyone involved should be responsible.

Photo: Courtesy of Detik.