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Don't politicize my resignation: Karen
Karen Agustiawan ( JP/Jerry Adiguna ) Karen Agustiawan has finally broken her silence following her widely published resignation from Indonesian oil and gas giant PT Pertamina
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Karen Agustiawan ( JP/Jerry Adiguna )
Karen Agustiawan has finally broken her silence following her widely published resignation from Indonesian oil and gas giant PT Pertamina.
She has said there was no need to politicize her decision to step down as Pertamina's president director. Meanwhile the government has begun to consider several candidates to temporarily fill the leadership position within the state-owned firm.
In a press statement distributed to media on Wednesday, Karen said that her resignation was related to personal reasons and asked all parties not to go overanalyze her decision.
Karen underscored the need for regeneration in Pertamina's leadership, highlighting the fact that
she had been on the firm's board of directors for six-and-a-half year: one year as upstream director and five-and-a-half years as president director.
'I need to highlight that this resignation process of mine had been ongoing since early 2013. When my term was extended for the second period, I attempted to reject [the offer] for the same private reasons, in addition to my view of the need for regeneration within a corporation,' she said.
'Therefore, I ask all parties not to relate my resignation [to anything] outside of those reason, moreover link it with political issues.'
Earlier this week, Karen submited a resignation letter in which she expressed her desire to allocate more time to her family and to academic pursuits, and stated her wish to teach at the prestigious Harvard University.
Her resignation came only a year after her term was extended in March 2013, which made her the first Pertamina CEO to have led the company for more than a single term.
Karen's resignation might also relate to political pressures, observers have said, citing a possible clash between her and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono after the latter rejected Pertamina's demand to increase the price of non-subsidized 12-kilogram liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) canisters, which have burdened the company's balance sheets.
Boasting Rp 25.9 trillion (US$2.7 billion) in net profits, Pertamina was the biggest state-owned company by profits last year in Indonesia, a country where state-run firms are often exploited as cash cows for ruling politicians.
Nevertheless, Coordinating Economic Minister Chairul Tanjung has claimed that the government never exerted any political pressure in relation to Karen's resignation. 'I hope this is now clear and will no longer be problematic,' he said on Wednesday.
The government would leave it up to the new administration to select Karen's permanent replacement, he said, adding that the current government would only appoint an executive from within Pertamina's existing board of directors to serve as the interim head of the company.
'We will make a decision on that during Pertamina's general shareholders' meeting. We expect the board of commissioners and board of directors to submit a name. The appointed [person] is usually the most senior member of the board of directors,' the minister said.
No date has been set for the shareholders' meeting. Corporate information on Pertamina's website shows that M. Afdal Bahaudin is the director with the longest tenure on the board. Afdal was appointed the company's finance director in 2010 and now serves as investment planning and risk management director.
Meanwhile, according to Said Didu, former State-Owned Enterprises Ministry secretary, the government was not obliged to appoint the interim head under the shareholders' meeting mechanism. 'Maybe the government is choosing to do that because Pertamina is a big company, whereas it can actually appoint the interim head directly and inform the shareholders during a later meeting,' he said.
He applauded the government's decision to only appoint an interim head, saying that it was a 'good ethical gesture' toward the incoming administration.
