The 2010 State Budget Amendment Boycotted Due to Sri Mulyani?

The 2010 State Budget Amendment Boycotted Due to Sri Mulyani?
Rabu, 10 Maret 2010 | 04:42 WIB


Indonesias Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati (R) chats with Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa at palace in Jakarta. Indonesias president on Thursday called for calm as he battled to save his fragile coalition following parliaments call for a criminal probe into a controversial bank bailout.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com — There is a growing concern that the discussions on the 2010 State Budget Amendment might not run smoothly if the presence of the Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati is boycotted due to her implications in the Century case. Chief of budgeting bureau, Harry Azhar Aziz, stated that the boycott will be done if there is a formal decision from the House plenary.

"If it's a decision from the plenary, then the meetings with the finance minister are threatened," Harry said to Kompas.com, Jakarta, Tuesday.

Harry admits that the boycott plan is spreading among members of the House. At the budgeting bureau the plan has been mentioned informally during meetings. "One or two spoke about it. But now more and more are talking about it."

If the issue escalates, then Harry believes it will be discussed during the plenary on April 5, 2010. If the plenary agrees on boycotting then the discussion on the 2010 State Budget Amendment scheduled for April 9, 2010, could be off. "But this is all hypothetical. But it's possible that the boycott plan will come up at the plenary on April 5 after the House has had recess."

Harry pointed out that despite the boycott possibility, the 2010 State Budget Amendment can still be saved if the president appoints a deputy finance minister. Then the deputy minister can discuss the amendment with the House.
"That's just if the president appoints a deputy finance minister. Then we don't necessarily have to deal with the finance minister." (ANI/C17-09)