87 candidates eligible to enter OJK race

JAKARTA. The Financial Services Authority (OJK) selection committee announced on Monday that only 87 out of 290 applicants for seven commissioner posts passed the administrative requirements.

The OJK will become a financial monitoring superbody that will take over the supervisory functions of banks from Bank Indonesia, and insurers and stock markets from the Capital Market and Financial Institutions Supervisory Agency (Bapepam-LK).

Under the law, OJK will be led by nine commissioners, two of whom will be representatives of the central bank and the Finance Ministry.

“We have filtered our best sons and daughters. Many of them are from the government’s top echelons, director-generals and top market players with good reputations of integrity,” committee chairman, Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo, said during a press briefing.

Agus added that the next phase of the selection process would last until March 21, during which time the committee must come up with 21 names to be submitted to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

“We have filtered our best sons and daughters. Many of them are from the government’s top echelons, director-generals and top market players with good reputations of integrity.”

Among the 87 individuals who passed the OJK administrative selection are University of Gadjah Mada economist and former director-general at the Finance Ministry Anggito Abimanyu, Institute for Economic and Financial Development (INDEF) economist Iman Sugema, Bank Indonesia deputy governor Muliaman Hadad, Bank Mandiri deputy president director Riswinandi, stock market analyst Yanuar Rizki, former Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) chief Yunus Husein and former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chairman Chandra M. Hamzah.

Separately, one of the chairmen of House of Representatives Commission XI on finance and banking, Democratic Party’s Achsanul Qosasih, said that the committee had done a great job examining the candidates during the administrative selection phase.

Achsanul, however, considered some of the names problematic due to past discord with lawmakers. For example, Chandra had his share of feuds with the House during his term as KPK deputy chairman, particularly when he refused to step down from his post during a police investigation into a bribery case that allegedly involved him in 2010.

Another candidate who has had a fall-out with the House is Yunus, who irked lawmakers when he refused to reveal PPATK data on the disbursement of Bank Century bailout funds.

Yunus, failed to raise enough support from lawmakers when he participated in the race for the KPK chairmanship in December. (Hans David Tampubolon/ The Jakarta Post)