Indonesian Vice President Boediono has insisted he will not step down despite mounting pressures on him to resign due to his involvement in the decision to bail out Bank Century.

In a 20-minute speech at the vice presidential office on Friday (March 5), Boediono defended the bailout as a difficult decision that was made to save the country’s economy. He said his resignation would amount to defiance of the people’s mandate and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s confidence.

“I have heard of a group that have been putting pressure on me to quit, but if I fulfill their demand I will be recorded as a leader who deserted the people and disrespected those who voted for me as well as the President who has put trust in me,” Boediono said.

He likened the bailout to efforts to extinguish a fire that was burning in a house of a robber in a fire-prone residential area. It was necessary to douse the fire before it spread to the neighbouring houses, he said.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto, Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa and Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati accompanied Boediono during the speech. The House voted the bailout was flawed and recommended legal measures be taken against Boediono and Mulyani for their role in the case.

Boediono said that he respected the House’s stance, but warned against “short-term political lust for power” that he said would destroy democracy in the country.

“Politics is not just about power, but must lead to a race of programmes to improve people’s welfare,” he said.

On Wednesday, the House voted against a decision in November 2008 by Mulyani and Boediono, who was the then Bank Indonesia governor, to authorise the bailout that increased tenfold to 6.76 trillion rupiah (US$716 million).

On Thursday, Yudhoyono officially said that he fully supported the decision to bailout the bank amid the uncertainty of the global economic crisis.