Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Former vice president Jusuf Kalla`s questioning of the legitimacy of the impact of the world financial crisis is illogical, a presidential special staff said here on Friday.

"If Jusuf Kalla did not believe in the impact of the global financial crisis in 2008 on the country`s economy why he approved to raise the deposit guarantee from Rp100 million to Rp2 billion. It is not that the government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) was issued to allow the change in the Deposit Insurance Agency (LPS) guarantee upon considerations of the crisis," Andi Arief said.

Kalla said when testifying before the House committee probing the case of the Century Bank bailout in 2008 on Thursday that the economic situation in the country at the time was not under crisis and therefore the Century Bank need not be bailed out then.

Andi said his statement was as difficult to make sense of as those of several House committee members who had accused the government of having dramatized the situation then.

He said based on newspaper clippings that he collected Maruarar Sirait from the Indonesia Democratic Party Struggle (PDIP) and Bambang Soesatyo from Golkar Party, who are all now in the committee, had even called for a more extreme action namely a blanket guarantee while Andi Rahmat, also now a committee member, had asked the government to even do a taboo if necessary such as to borrow for the sake of saving the country from the impact of the crisis.

Andi said Jusuf Kalla had taken a weird stance in the hearing on Thursday, as if he was an observer and not the one involved in the government then.

"Jusuf Kalla interpreted the big contribution that Sri Mulyani (then and now also still finance minister) and Boediono (then central bank governor and now vice president) have given to overcoming the crisis and the ability of the fiscal and monetary authorities in handling and mitigating the impact of crisis upside down by telling as if no crisis had happened," he said.

Andi also questioned Kalla on his statement that he did not know the condition of the Century Bank then because President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had already asked him to curb rumours on a run as a result of the bank`s failure in clearance.

"Some media have even reported that at 9pm Tokyo time on November 14, 2009, SBY (President Yudhoyono) even asked JK (Jusuf Kalla) and Boediono to explain to the public that the rumour did not make sense," he said.(*)

Editor: Aditia Maruli
COPYRIGHT © 2012

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