B

ureaucratic reform at the Finance Ministry will continue despite any change of leadership as the reform is designed to follow the system, not the leaders, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati says.

"A change of leadership is unavoidable, it may be more colorful or more dull - which way doesn't matter. But the bureaucratic *reform* will still go on," Mulyani said in an interview Thursday.

Speculation is rife that Mulyani will be named as a candidate for Bank Indonesia's (BI) governorship after Boediono resigned following his nomination as incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono running mate.

Reputable tax office chief Darmin Nasution has been appointed as BI's senior deputy governor, replacing Miranda S. Goeltom, while customs and excise office chief Anwar Suprijadi will likely retire by year end.

The change bought on by the change of the three leaders is highly crucial as they are responsible for at least 70 percent of the state's revenue. Businesses have expressed concern that reform at the Finance Ministry may cease as the reputable figures go.

But Mulyani dismissed the concerns. "From the beginning we have designed the institution to depend on the system, not on us. I have a bureaucratic reform team, I don't do this all by myself. If there is a setback, it won't be much. Especially as the Finance Ministry has taken the media spotlight."

Mulyani further said she was obsessed with continuing to push for reform in her ministry, "Our reform has gone down to the performance indicator level of echelon II. I'm obsessed with making sure the *reform of* echelon II is finished this year."

As part of the reform, 19 offi-cials from the tax office and eight others from the customs and excise office in the echelon II category were promoted and transferred last month.