Resigned from the Position of Minister of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia, Sri Mulyani: I define this as a victory, because it was successful not to be dictated to!
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| Sri Mulyani, the best Minister in the era of President Joko Widodo |
During the launch of the 2015 Budget Transparency Survey Report in Washington, DC, on Friday (11/9), the World Bank Managing Director mentioned that making budgets more transparent is the right thing to do but it comes with challenges, including pushback from elites and groups who are not interested in accountability or openness to public scrutiny.
"As a former finance minister I can tell you that making the budget more transparent may be the right thing to do, but it comes with challenges, including pushback from elites and other groups who have no interest in accountability or opening themselves up to scrutiny from citizens and oversight body," said Sri Mulyani in her speech as quoted from the World Bank's official website on Monday, September 14, 2015.
This is not the first time Sri Mulyani has addressed this issue. In 2010, when she resigned as Finance Minister from the government of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), she stated that her resignation was a form of victory because she managed to avoid the dictatorship of certain groups who were hungry for power.
She defined her victory as not being dictated to, in a Public Policy and Public Ethics lecture at the Ritz Carlton Hotel on Tuesday (18/5/2012).
"I define victory, because success is not dictated," he emphasized in a Public Lecture entitled Public Policy and Public Ethics at the Ritz Carlton hotel on Tuesday, May 18, 2015
Sri Mulyani's disappointment at that time occurred when her decision as the Chair of the Financial Sector Stability Committee (KSSK) to rescue Bank Century from bankruptcy was questioned by the House of Representatives (DPR).
She claimed that there was a political process driven by certain interests that made her a scapegoat in the Bank Century case.
Regarding budget transparency, Sri Mulyani mentioned that progress has been made in Indonesia but it is not evenly distributed.
However, the overall trend and ranking have been positive: in 2006, Indonesia scored 42 points, while this year it scored 59 points.
"However the overall trend and ratings have been positive: in 2006 our score was 42 points, and this year it is 59 points," She said.
The World Bank conducts a Budget Transparency Survey and Index on 108 countries, with 78 countries surveyed providing insufficient information.
Only Brazil, Norway, South Africa, and the United States are rated as good in terms of budget transparency, public participation, and effective supervision.
"If opening up the budget is for development to have a significant impact, then all countries must keep moving forward. And we must help policy makers to implement the right steps," She said.
According to Sri Mulyani, budget transparency is important for improving development outcomes.
Transparency is the key to development that policymakers must uphold by adopting the demands of the public.
She added that this is just as important as monitoring budget implementation by formal accountability institutions, and both of these criteria lead to more efficient and effective use of public resources and build trust between citizens and their government.
"This is as important as oversight of budget execution by formal accountability institutions and together these criteria lead to more efficient and effective use of public resources and build trust between citizens and their governments," She explained.
Sri Mulyani stated that in East Asia and African countries such as the Philippines and Malawi, there is a positive trend of budget transparency.
In South Africa, for example, effective use of budget data by civil society to initiate a dialogue with the government has resulted in increased budget allocation for child support grants.
Meanwhile, in India and Uganda, Sri Mulyani highlighted access to budget data triggered by tracking expenditures that have been identified as leaking and congested. This is believed to help improve the use of development resources in rural communities.
Studies in Brazil, Mexico, and India all point to the fact that greater budget transparency leads to more efficient resource allocation and improved public services.
"Studies in Brazil, Mexico and India all point to the fact that participatory budgeting contributes to reducing infant mortality, improving basic service coverage and improving the targeting of social protection programs," She said.***
