The week in review: Political novel in-the-making

Indonesia’s chattering classes got all excited after Anas Urbaningrum announced his resignation as chairman of the ruling Democratic Party and quipped that this was only “the first page” as he seeks to defend his name and reputation against charges of corruption.

In the absence of any other major breaking story, Anas dominated the news headlines this past week. While he has revealed nothing to suggest that he is moving to Page Two anytime soon, there was never any shortage of speculations and conspiracy theories from politicians, pundits and journalists to keep the nation busy, if not amused and entertained. The social media make sure that whatever these people have to say are being quickly disseminated to a much wider audience beyond the small political elite.

Whether Anas is innocent or guilty of corruption as charged by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), he comes across as vengeful, someone determined to bring everybody else’s down, including the party which he had chaired since 2010, and even President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono or members of the First Family. At least, that’s how the media have portrayed him, rightly or wrongly.

As party chair for three years, he certainly knew about what went on within the party much more than he cares to admit, including how chief treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin used the party’s influence to secure lucrative contracts and raise funds. Nazaruddin, jailed for seven years, has implicated other party seniors, including former youth and sports minister Andi Mallarangeng and now, finally, Anas. Exactly how deep Anas was involved in the scam over the construction of the Rp 1.17 trillion (US$121 million) Hambalang sports complex project in West Java is what the KPK is trying to determine.

Anas may know a lot, but the more pertinent question is how much he would reveal and how far he would be willing to bring down the party or President Yudhoyono with him. While there are pressures from the party’s detractors for Anas to go all the way, he knows too that the more he reveals, the more he incriminates himself. He was, after all, the chair of the party, and therefore the most responsible for how the party raised its money. Anas would destroy himself first before he brings everybody else’s down.

Another reason why the nation’s political elite got all excited this week was the suggestion (which did not come from Anas’s mouth) that he had some new information about the process of the 2008 Bank Century bailout that would reveal the role played by Vice President Boediono and World Bank Managing Director Sri Mulyani Indrawati. These two were respectively the Bank Indonesia governor and the finance minister at the time of the bail out, and therefore deemed as most responsible for making the decision.

Whatever the Bank Century piece of information Anas has, it is unlikely to change the nature of the KPK investigation. After more than four years, everything we need to know about the bailout surely is already known. The real question for the KPK now is to determine whether any crime had been committed as the House of Representatives has insisted. Still this didn’t stop the President’s detractors in the House to
demand a hearing with Anas and to suggest that KPK question him about Bank Century. The KPK has also announced this week that it will travel to Washington DC to question
Sri Mulyani.

The KPK in the meantime decided this week to launch an independent inquiry into how a draft letter ordering the investigation of Anas had been leaked. The leak, one week before Anas was officially named a graft suspect, led to speculation that the KPK had come under pressure from the Presidential Palace.

Rather than a story about Anas’ role in the Hambalang scandal, his story quickly turned into a tale about how Yudhoyono was plotting to remove Anas. This has become the dominant story line, at least for this week.

This has been Anas’ week, but he is wrong to think that this is the first page of a big story. His story would be too small to stand on its own. Anas may not even be the central figure in this still evolving political drama. He may be the main character in the current chapter of the story dedicated to his part and his role. But Anas doesn’t get to write the story and therefore doesn’t get to choose how it would end. And Anas is not necessarily the good guy in the novel either. So his supporters should be prepared to be disappointed with an anti-climax ending for this particular chapter on Anas.

Anas’ story instead is a part of much broader and longer political drama in-the-making about high level corruptions in this country. Anas joins other characters who have already come and gone in the story, including Nazaruddin, Angelina Sondakh to Andi. No doubt there will be other characters as the story unfolds in the coming weeks and months. We have yet to see what role Yudhoyono played in all this mess.

This may turn out to be one of the longest-running political novels Indonesia has seen. Just sit back and enjoy, and watch how it ends.

— Endy M. Bayuni

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