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Indonesia reels from corruption fighter's departure for World Bank
TOM ALLARD HERALD CORRESPONDENT
May 6, 2010
JAKARTA: Indonesia's fight against corruption has been thrown into doubt after its finance minister and reform stalwart resigned and accepted a senior job at the World Bank.
Sri Mulyani Indrawati, a former Euromoney magazine finance minister of the year and a darling of foreign investors, has been pursued relentlessly in the past six months by powerful business, bureaucratic and political interests that stand to lose from her reformist agenda.
Jakarta's currency and sharemarkets, already under pressure yesterday, fell further on the news.
''It will be a huge loss to Indonesia and a victory for those bastards targeting her,'' said Peter Fanning of the Indonesia Australia Business Council. ''It comes at a critical juncture.''
The Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, confirmed that Dr Indrawati would be leaving, hailing her as ''one of our best ministers''.
But there was speculation that her departure might be part of a political deal to placate her enemies, some of whom are members of the ruling coalition.
Dr Indrawati has earned plaudits for expanding the country's tax base, easing the regulatory burden on private enterprise and running a conservative fiscal policy that helped Indonesia weather the global financial crisis.
She has also been the most visible face of President Yudhoyono's anti-corruption drive. But, despite some successes, graft remains widespread in Indonesia, including in agencies overseen by Dr Indrawati.
Whether Indonesia has the political will and personnel to carry on the task is in doubt.
''It's created uncertainty,
Dr Indrawati will start as a managing director at the World Bank next month, one of three senior advisers to its president, Robert Zoellick.
A US-trained economist who worked at the International Monetary Fund, Dr Indrawati has no political affiliations. In the parlance popular in Indonesia, she is a ''technocrat'
During the height of the financial crisis and as sharemarkets fell in 2008, she resisted pressure from Aburizal Bakrie to halt trading and prop up his coal interests with government funds. Mr Bakrie was not only one of Indonesia's richest men but also a member of President Yudhoyono's cabinet at the time.
Dr Indrawati won that battle after reportedly threatening to resign and her actions did much to instil confidence in Indonesian financial markets. Since then, shares and the rupiah have soared in value.
But, as Mr Haas puts it, ''the bullshit has just got worse'' for Dr Indrawati as legislators from Mr Bakrie's Golkar Party, among others, pursued the finance minister over her approval of the bailout of a small financial institution, Bank Century.
Dr Indrawati responded by threatening to chase down alleged tax debts owed by Mr Bakrie's companies.
Golkar is part of President Yudhoyono's coalition government. Other parties in the ruling coalition have also aggressively pursued Dr Indrawati.
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