T

he selection of the Financial Services Authority’s (OJK) board of commissioners candidates is in the spotlight as top politicians are jumping to get involved, making the future of the multi-quadrillion rupiah financial and capital market industry prone to political intervention.

The selection process of the OJK’s new executives concluded its first phase last Friday with 174 out of 843 applicants passing preliminary selection. However, the government-appointed selection committee has kept the results secret.

Rumor has it that several members of the House of Representatives are on the list. Golkar Party politician Melchias Markus Mekeng and a politician from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Andreas Eddy Susetyo are reportedly on the list. They are, respectively, the chairperson and a member of the House of Representatives’ Commission XI overseeing finance and banking.

Golkar politician Eni Maulani Saragih confirmed that Mekeng had signed up. “Yes, from Golkar, Pak Mekeng is on the list […] However, I don’t know if he passed the [first phase of] selection,” she wrote in a text message on Sunday.

Mekeng was removed from his position as one of leaders of the House budget committee in 2012 soon after he was questioned by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) as a witness in a graft case involving the disbursement of Regional Infrastructure Development Acceleration (PPID) funds in 2010.

Other politicians who are said to have joined the selection are PDI-P politician Arif Budimanta and Golkar Party politician Ade Komaruddin.

As the tenure of existing OJK board members will come to an end on Jul. 23, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has appointed a selection committee led by Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati. It consists of eight members representing the government, Bank Indonesia (BI), academia, banking, capital markets and non-bank financial industries.

Sri Mulyani said on Friday that the enrolled candidates came from varied backgrounds, such as academia or finance.

Although there is no prohibition for members of political parties to apply for the job, experts have worried about OJK’s independence and professionalism if politicians managed to pass the next phase of selection and become part of the board of commissioners.

“Politicians without appropriate experience will taint OJK’s independence,” said Center of Reform on Economics (CORE) Indonesia research director Mohammad Faisal, adding that commissioners should have clean track records and adequate expertise.

An ideal board of commissioners, Mohammad further said, should be a combination of professionals with knowledge of the financial industry as well as bureaucrats and academics, who would bring governance to the financial sector.

Kontan reported that OJK commissioner for capital market supervision Nurhaida had declared her willingness to participate in the selection. Meanwhile, OJK chairperson Muliaman D. Hadad has not clearly said whether he will pursue a second tenure.

From the industry, former National Banks Association (Perbanas) chairperson and former BNI president director Sigit Pramono confirmed his application submission.

Sri Mulyani recently said that candidates, whomever they are, should ensure that they have the required qualifications, stressing that she could not be “subjective” regarding their backgrounds.

“[They should have] competency, integrity and a strong commitment to managing the financial sector,” she said. “What’s more, we need a strongly performing OJK because the government wants to strengthen the domestic economy, and the financial sector is a backbone.”

Samuel Sekuritas economist Rangga Cipta said the future OJK executives must have a good
understanding of macroeconomics because it is important to read financial situations amid increasing global uncertainties.

Despite the concerns, the Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF) economist Bhima Yudhistira Adhinegara believes Sri Mulyani can help minimize concerns about political back door deals as she is known as a “tough reformist”.