spruiked: jakarta style

Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who led the committee that determined that Century needed help, said the bailout was “legal” and failure to act might have “burned” the nation’s finance sector... [and] without the rescue, the country’s banking industry could have faced the threat of a liquidity crisis in light of the global financial meltdown.

One of the the Jakarta Globe's headline confused me this morning. "Indonesia Finance Minister Backs Bank Century Bailout" it reads.

Why am I confused? Because only last week I read an extract from minutes of a meeting where Sri Mulyani clearly warned against the bailout. I was under the impression that she did NOT support the bailout.

Why the contradiction? I think it is because Sri Mulyani is speaking on behalf of the committee -- not in her personal capacity or as the Finance Minister. If this is the case, then it is very important that we don't jump to conclusions.

I seriously doubt that the Finance Minister and the Vice President are involved in anything illegal or inappropriate. Bailing out Bank Century may not have been the best decision, and it certainly led to a much bigger problem -- the Susno-Sampoerna (alleged) crime -- but that doesn't mean that these two are guilty of anything untoward.

Model-actress-defamer ManoWhora was tragically killed yesterday during an otherwise peaceful political rally in Jakarta.

The socialite mistakenly believed she was attending a World Wildife Foundation event to raise awareness of Indonesia's disappearing mangroves and wetlands. Raising a stuffed crocodile above her head, she cried out "Save the crocodile!"

Little did she know that the political rally was in support of the KPK, and the crocodile a symbol of Police oppression. Within seconds, her fellow protesters turned on the actress, beating her to death.

The actress' mother, MegaWhora, told reporters this morning that her daughter would live on in a new sinetron tentatively titled Ayat Ayat Bodoh.

I do not understand the contents of the president’s speech

Indonesia was glued to the TV last night waiting to hear what the President would say about the KPK crisis. If you expected him to come out guns blazing, then you would have been sorely disappointed.

SBY told the nation that as head of state he did not have the authority to stop the Police or the Attorney-General. I'm no constitutional lawyer, but that sounds right to me.

"[The] better solution... is to not take this case to court, while continuing to abide by the principle of justice," said the President.

It is not surprising that the President confused the nation with this little ditty. He used a special language known as lawyer speak. Translated, he is telling the Police and Attorney General to drop the case, but don't break any laws in the process.

Most people I know are disappointed. They wanted the President to swoop in, kill the dragon and save the princess -- not a lawyer.

I am still mulling this over, but my initial reaction is that I think the President has done the right thing. He has upheld the law, and maintained the integrity of the Presidency. I respect that. It is far more important than making people happy.

But worry too much, good people. One of two things will happen:

• the Attorney-General and Police chief will follow the President's recommendation and stop, or 
• the case will continue.

The smart thing would be to halt the case. But I think the best thing for Indonesia would be for the case to go ahead. Only then will ordinary Indonesians and bules alike get to see just how diseased these two institutions are.

Dell have launched their China-only phone, the Dell Mini 3i. It looks pretty nice.

I want to end the fighting

Before the KPK crisis, I would have described the President as "cautious", "conservative" and very much a "consensus man". He was slow to act, but probably because he preferred the Javanese approach to democracy over authoritarianism -- get everyone to agree before you impose your decision.

During the crisis, I added "smart". I was willing to give the President the benefit of the doubt. His insistence that he was not going to interfere indicated that he knew that if they were given enough rope, the Police and the other nasties involved would hang themselves.

Now, as we draw towards the end of the case, I wonder. Do I still feel the same about the President? On one hand, his sudden change of heart could be seen as very self-serving.

On the other, doesn't the fact that he waited for Team 8's decision, then gave the Police and the AGO the chance to cancel this reaffirm my earlier view of the President?

I think it does. In my mind, at least, the President has redeemed himself. Well, almost. I still have a nagging doubt. Do you feel the same?

An out-of-court settlement is fair, with significant improvements in all law enforcement agencies. I want to end the fighting

The President has finally said that he wants to stop the "fighting" between the Police, public prosecutors office and the KPK. Interesting choice of language Mr President. "Fighting"? The appropriate term is "bullying".

Let's leave aside why the President is using such silly words. Let's leave aside why he has had a change of heart -- reme mber he refused to get involved earlier because it would "tear apart" the justice system. What I am interested in is what is best for Indonesia -- not the political career of the President.

Personally, I am beginning to think that it would be better if this ridiculous KPK scenario played out to the end. Why?

• We need to see just how contrived the case is -- how bad is it? 
• The corruption and disease in the Police and Attorney General's office needs to be uncovered, once and for all. 
• The credibility of the KPK has been questioned. Their names needs to be cleared. Team 8 can't do that -- it has no authority. It will take a court to do that. 
• Most importantly, we need our sacrificial lambs, the Police chief, AGO and all the individuals involved in this sick affair.

Here's hoping that the Police and AGO do not heed the President's recommendations.