Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday defended two senior ministers deeply involved in a US$715 million government bank bailout that parliament decided warrants criminal investigation.
Analysts say parliament’s Wednesday vote for a police investigation into the November 2008 bailout of Bank Century has created the greatest political crisis of Yudhoyono’s six-year presidency because parties within the governing coalition backed the call against his wishes.
The uproar has also put the spotlight on two of his closest allies — Vice President Boediono, a former central bank governor who goes by a single name and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati.
Yudhoyono used a nationally televised address Thursday night to express his continued support for the economic advisers. They have denied any wrongdoing.
Indonesia’s main audit agency has alleged irregularities in the bailout, which sparked violent protests Tuesday outside the parliament building, where demonstrators hurled rocks and police responded with tear gas.
Yudhoyono described the ministers as “two of the best children of the nation, who have good track records for personal competence, credibility and integrity.”
His support signals that he won’t sacrifice them to quell unrest within government ranks. The call for a criminal probe has been described in the media as a vote of no confidence in the bailout.
Yudhoyono noted that the government decision to rescue the bank was made at the peak of the global economic crisis.
Indonesia’s independent anti-corruption commission already has been looking into the bailout, so parliament’s vote was a largely symbolic gesture on an issue that has dominated the country’s politics in recent months.
In the 560-seat House of Representatives, 325 legislators voted for a criminal probe. Another 212, mostly from Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party, argued the bailout had necessarily prevented a meltdown of the financial system.
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