Big names express interest in commissioner posts

Several prominent names have begun expressing interest in applying for seven commissioner posts at the Financial Service Authority (OJK).

For example, Capital Market and Financial Institutions Supervisory Agency (Bapepam LK) head Nurhaida said that she was interested in competing for the OJK commissioner post.

Nurhaida said that she thought it was important for the OJK, which would take over financial monitoring authority from both Bank Indonesia and Bapepam LK, to have a commissioner who understood the financial industry inside out.

“In the OJK’s first year, it will absorb Bapepam LK. OJK’s future programs on monitoring will surely be a continuation of our previous programs. This is an important factor to consider because the OJK will be in charge of monitoring the stock market and non-banking institutions,” she said.

Another prominent name that has expressed an interest in the OJK job is Kemal Azis Stamboel, a Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) legislator at the House of Representatives Commission XI on banking and finance.

“Yes, I am definitely interested in the job. The vacancy is open until Feb. 14 and until then, we’ll see what happens,” Kemal said.

Before turning to politics, Kemal was well known as the president director of consulting company PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PWC) Indonesia office.

Due to Kemal’s past at PWC, speculation is rife that he would try to apply for the audit commissioner post, one of the available posts on the OJK commissioner board.

Kemal, however, said that he had yet to decide which OJK post he would apply for.

“I will leave my selection to the OJK selection committee members to judge and to choose. All I can say for now is that I am planning to participate and to adhere to the selection process the best I can,” he said.

Another prominent name that has been circulating as having an interest in an OJK job is the Golkar Party’s Nusron Wahid, the former chairman of the House special committee that deliberated on the OJK bill law. Nusron did not respond to a text message sent by The Jakarta Post to confirm the rumor.

The OJK commissioners will hold in their hands the authority to control and to monitor the country’s financial sector. Some have dubbed the agency a “financial monitoring super body”.

Nine OJK commissioner positions are available and two of them are automatically given to representatives from the finance ministry and Bank Indonesia.

For the remaining seven posts, the committee would select three candidates for each post and submit its selections to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The President would select two candidates for each post and submit his selections to the House for a fit and proper test.

— JP/Hans David Tampubolon