Indonesia’s departing Finance Minister, Sri Mulyani, has been speaking at gatherings held in her honor. As usual she does not speak indirectly, a style preferred by many of her countrymen. As the Jakarta Post reported: “During her general lecture on public policy and ethics in Jakarta on Tuesday, Mulyani, who is known for never addressing politics in her speeches, said a ‘political marriage’ (alluding to the President and Golkar Chairman, Aburizal Bakrie) had cost her the finance minister position. She said she could no longer exist in a political system in which ethics had become an exotic virtue. She said she was no longer wanted.”
Curiously, some members of the Golkar , many of whom directly accused her of illegally presiding over a bank bailout, complained that she should have been more grateful, diplomatic, and “less angry”. After all, in the words of one of them, she had been “allowed a soft landing”. (as opposed to a criminal prosecution ?) This not-so-subtle form of intimidation characterized Golkar’s approach during the administration of President Suharto.
"Corruption is everywhere and it depends on the (leaders') response to eradicate it," Indrawati said in a speech to university students Wednesday. "If the leaders are clean, others will follow."
Another party, PDI-P, applauded Sri’s statement and hoped for more to be revealed about her exit.
The Post also reported that at the University of Indonesia alumni event, Mulyani’s friend Rhenald Kasali, the MC at the event, invited Hariono, a fellow alumni, to tell the tale of Wayang Orang, a traditional Javanese play. Hariono told a story about a war in which Srikandi, a female warrior, was forced to withdraw from battle. “Where? To Washington,” Hariono said.
Bidding farewell to fellow alumni at the University of Indonesia’s Faculty of Economics, where she obtained her undergraduate degree, Mulyani said “Today is perhaps the first day in six years that I have been able to laugh full heartily,” she said.
