DEMOCRATS LOBBY COALITION PARTNERS FOR COMMON STAND ON CENTURY CASE

Jakarta, Feb 19 (ANTARA) - Ruling Democrat Party (PD) executives have been lobbying the party's coalition partners in an effort to arrive at a common view on the Bank Century case, a spokesman said.

"The lobbying the Democrat Party has done is not for covering up the government's policy to bail out Bank Century which was considered to be wrong," PD associate chairman Gondo Radityo Gambiro, said here Friday.

He said the Democrat Party viewed the bailout was aimed at preventing a wider financial crisis like in 1998.

He said the capital injection was done based upon the laws, namely the Government Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perppu) Number 4 of 2008 regarding a financial system security net (JPSK) and Law Number 24 of 2004 on Deposit Insurance Agency (LPS).

He said the Rp6.7 bailout funds for the bank did not vanish but were held by the Mutiara Bank (the former Century Bank) which is now still operating.

"The Democrat Party cannot understand the view held by other political party factions that the bailout is not given based on laws," he said.

The different views need to be discussed by leaders of coalition member parties with regard to seeking a common stance, he said.

He said the factions' views would be submitted to the House Century Bank Inquiry Committee and determined as a final say in a plenary session of the committee on March 2.

Radityo hoped an agreement could be made by acclamation at the committee's meeting to determine the final view.

He said if no agreement could be made he suggested seeking a judicial review by the constitutional court to seek constitutional certainty over the laws used for the bailout.

Radityo said the other parties in the coalition had not made a commitment only with the President but also with the Democrat Party.

He said in the coalescing agreement there was a clause stating that parties joining the coalition should support government policies in the parliament.

"We are questioning the stance of parliamentary members from the other parties in the coalition that do not support the government's stance (on the Bank Century bailout)," he said.