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one are many familiar faces from the Financial Services Authority’s (OJK) top brass after the government wrapped up the second stage of the selection process, in a move seen as an attempt to reform the financial body and keep political pressure at bay.

Seventy-two names eliminated, 28 more to go until July in the search for seven members of the OJK’s board of commissioners for the 2017-2022 period.

The new board will definitely lack prominent faces like those of current chairman Muliaman Hadad, banking supervision commissioner Nelson Tampubolon and non-banking industry supervision commissioner Firdaus Djaelani.

All three — along with two other commissioners — failed to pass the second stage, which required them to submit an academic paper. Deputy chairman Rahmat Waluyanto and capital market supervision commissioner Nurhaida, on the other hand, fared better as they proceeded to the third stage.

In a deliberation meeting that lasted for hours until late on Friday, the selection committee, headed by Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, also eliminated two politicians applying for the OJK’s hot seats, namely Melchias Markus Mekeng from the Golkar Party and Andreas Eddy Susetyo from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

The two lawmakers are the chairman and a member, respectively, of Commission XI at the House of Representatives, which oversees fiscal policy and the financial industry.

Professionals, such as former Bank Mandiri president director Zulkifli Zaini, former Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) director Hoesen and state-owned pawnshop Pegadaian president director Riswinandi, made the cut.

The OJK has nine members on its board of commissioners, including two ex officio members appointed by Bank Indonesia and the Finance Ministry.

As the commissioners are tasked with overseeing more than Rp 9 quadrillion (US$674.86 billion) in financial assets, the stakes indeed are high.

It was the first time for the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to be directly involved in the selection, alongside the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK), to ensure that the future OJK commissioners have clean track records.

The committee’s move was surprising to many banking and financial industry players, because they regarded the current OJK commissioners as well-performing regulators.

Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) president director Achmad Baiquni said the result was unexpected, as he considered the outgoing commissioners to be quite successful in monitoring the financial industry on the back of global uncertainties. “I think they have been pretty solid.”

However, others acknowledged that the selection committee probably had a different point of view and was looking for certain characteristics in future OJK leaders, especially as the country faces a challenging global and domestic economic outlook.

“The world has seen a lot of surprises, such as Brexit [the United Kingdom leaving the European Union] and Trump [the unexpected victory of US President Donald Trump]. So we are convinced and hopeful that the future OJK leaders will be the best personnel available,” said Bank OCBC NISP president director Parwati Surjaudaja.

Even though they passed the second stage, the remaining candidates still face arduous challenges in form of a medical checkup, an interview and a confirmation hearing at the House in July.