"The Monitoring Team has reached a consensus, after reviewing all considerations, to call Vice President Boediono for a meeting with the team on December 18," Pramono Anung, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, said when announcing the decision here on Wednesday.
Pramono Anung, from the opposition Indonesia Democratic Party Struggle (PDIP), said "We do not want to interfere with the ongoing investigation being conducted by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). However, there are several things that must be clarified,."
The question now is whether vice president Boediono should comply with the summons.
Vice President Boediono has stated he would not meet with lawmakers, as he would not wish to disrupt the legal process of the case.
The case centers on the decision to bail out the bank, which was on the brink of collapse during a financial crisis in 2008, by injecting Rp6.7 trillion into the bank.
The deputy chairman of the Peoples Consultative Assembly (MPR), Hajriyanto, said on Saturday that the parliaments Century Bank case monitoring teams plan to summon the vice president was irrelevant, because parliament has already decided to refer the corruption case to the law enforcement agency, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
He said the monitoring team should, instead, ask KPK about their progress in handling of the case, especially with regard to Beodionos alleged role in it.
The parliaments monitoring team could ask a critical question to KPK about the slow process of the settlement of the case.
"As in the case of someone accused of committing a murder, people have no right to question the suspect, but they must make an inquiry to law enforcers," he said.
An associate chairman of the Nasional Demokrat Party (Nasdem), Akbar Faisal, also criticized the teams decision, saying it showed that the team has no systematic efforts with regard to the settlement of the case.
"The DPR (parliament) may not prolong the settlement of the case by interpreting the constitution based upon short-term interests. DPR must take a firm decision by implementing its right to give an opinion," he said at the partys headquarters here on Friday.
Akbar Faisal was formerly a member of the special committee set up by parliament to investigate the case.
"While I was there, it was decided that the government was wrong in its decision to bail out the bank," he said.
Akbar said that implementing the right to give an opinion would be the right step, as it was in line with the constitution.
He, however, said that the DPR has already decided to refer the case to the law enforcement agencies, with KPK handling the corruption aspect in the case while the attorney general�s office would look into the aspect of money laundering, while the police reviews the banking aspect.
"By deciding to summon the vice president, the DPR has not set an example with regard to discipline and respect to the constitution. What more they would ask Boediono, as all questions have been given to him during the special committee meeting, and a guilty verdict has also been issued," he said.
Akbar Faisal said he could understand Boedionos decision to reject the summons, but he refused to say that he supported him.
"The one who was the most responsible in this case was Beodiono, because he was then the governor of the central bank. But I hope the DPR would not play with the emotions of the public and use this issue for image building ahead of the 2014 general elections," he said.
The ruling Democrat Party, meanwhile, said it was of the view that the political process in the case had finished with the issuance of the decision to refer the case to the law enforcement agencies.
"The task of the monitoring team now is monitoring the legal process of the case by law enforcers," party spokesman Mohammad Ikhsan said here on Saturday.
He added that the case was now being handled by the KPK and vice president Boediono had also been questioned by it.
Summoning other parties, such as those who have been questioned by KPK, ran against the decision of the DPR, he said.
The summons would only disrupt the process of law enforcement now underway in the KPK, he added.
He also said the vice president has already expressed his commitment to help the KPK settle the case and would not like to see any political intervention in the process.
Ikhsan also said what some members of the team had done would only create unnecessary political controversy. "It is a mere repeat of old political songs sung by a few people seeking a political stage," he said.
A parliament member who was also a former member of the parliaments Century Bank special committee, Harry Azhar Aziz, said that vice president Boediono could be jailed if he refused to meet the summons of the monitoring team.
He said in Tanjungpinang on Saturday that the DPR has the power to summon the vice president, in following the law.
"If the vice president violates the law, it means he violates his oath," the politician from Golkar Party said.
"I advise vice president Boediono to meet it so that no political chaos occurs," he said.
Bambang Soesatyo, a member of the monitoring team, said here on Thursday that Boediono must explain two different statements he had earlier made.
"In the first statement at the Century Bank special committee, Boediono said that Century Bank had been bailed out, but later he said it was taken over. These are two different things," he noted.
Bambang, who is also a politician from the Golkar Party, said that the teams decision was correct and not in violation of any regulations.
He said, based on Article 72 of the law on MPR/DPR/DPD/DPRD, the DPR has the right to summon any citizen to give information.
Muhammadiyah, an Islamic organization, meanwhile has urged steps be taken to immediately settle the case.
"Muhammadiyah urged a number of parties, including the government, the parliaments monitoring team, the DPR and the KPK, to settle the case during the current government," the chief of the organization, Din Syamsuddin, said at a meeting here on Friday, which was also attended by lawmaker from the Islamic United Development Party(PPP), Ahmad Yani; a politician from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Fahri Hamzah; a politician from Hanura Party, Fuad Bawazir; and a researcher from corruption study center of state Gajahmada University, Oce Madri; as well as Hajriyanto and former sports minister Mahadi Sinambela.
Hajriyanto said that implementing the DPRs right to issue an opinion over the case was late, as the DPR has already decided to refer the case to law enforcement agencies.
(H-YH/A014)
(EDITED BY INE)
(KR-BSR/A014)
Reporter: Yoseph Hariyadi
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2013
