JAKARTA: Former finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati handed over her role to economist Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa on Tuesday (Sept 9), in a ceremony in which she made a plea for people to respect her privacy.
She was among the five members of President Prabowo Subianto’s cabinet who were replaced in a major reshuffle on Monday, following weeklong protests and riots that had shaken the country.
“I bid my farewell this morning and I plead that from now on please respect my privacy as a citizen,” she said during her speech at the ceremony.
Having served three presidents in the last 14 years as the country’s finance chief, the renowned economist has built her reputation as someone with integrity who earned respect from the international community for her prudence in managing the state finances.
But she also gained criticisms for her failures to prevent corruption among tax officials.
There had long been rumoUrs about her resignation due to pressures to achieve President Prabowo Subianto’s ambitious programmes, with the latest one emerging after her private residence South Tangerang, a city in the southern part of Jakarta, became one of the targets of angry mobs at the peak of nationwide protests against lawmakers’ excessive salaries.
Witnesses said the mobs, who were not residents of the area, looted her house twice early on Aug 31.
The former minister and her family were not in the house when the home invasion took place.
Sri Mulyani never spoke publicly about her house being looted, relying on her Instagram account to express how she felt about the incident.
In one of her posts on Sept. 1, she shared an update that she joined a cabinet meeting with President Prabowo 11 hours after the looting took place. She was smiling in the photo that accompanies the post, while shaking hands with the President.
“I understand that building Indonesia is a struggle. A struggle that is not easy, excessive and dangerous. Our forefathers experienced that […] As a government official, it is my duty to abide by the Constitution and the law. It is not a personal taste,” she said in another post on the same day.
It was not clear why she became a target for the looting, but a deepfake video had circulated featuring her speech that had been manipulated to say that teachers were a state burden. She has since clarified that she said nothing detrimental about teachers.
The South Tangerang Police have arrested 11 people for allegedly robbing and vandalizing the house. The police said the suspects were residents from various places in Greater Jakarta. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
