Concerns are mounting that the government’s plan to hold extraordinary general shareholders meetings at several state-owned enterprises (SOEs) might result in large management shake-ups that could in turn affect performance.

State-owned lenders Bank Mandiri, Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) and Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN) and state gas company PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (PGN) are scheduled to hold extraordinary general meetings at the end of this month.

Of the five companies, only PGN and Bank Mandiri have disclosed the scheduled dates for their meetings.

According to information posted by PGN on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) website, PGN is scheduled to hold its meeting on Aug. 30, during which the firm’s shareholder will discuss a possible management shake-up.

Meanwhile, Bank Mandiri is slated to hold its meeting on Aug. 28, the company disclosed on the IDX website, with no details yet on the agenda of the meeting.

Changes at the managerial level are expected due to a trend that has seen the president director of an SOE changed on 20 separate occasions in similar situations, according to data compiled by The Jakarta Post’s research team.

In one high-profile case, Budi Waseso, the former National Narcotics Agency (BNN) head, was appointed as president director of state-owned logistics company Bulog, replacing his predecessor Djarot Kusumayakti amid highly publicized issues surrounding the government’s rice import policy last year.

Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) economist Bhima Yudhistira Adhinegara said frequent management changes would be counterproductive to the performance of the companies as new directors would have to adapt to their positions.

Such shake-ups could be politically motivated to ensure loyalty to State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno, as there was speculation that President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo would oust her from her current position in the next Cabinet reshuffle, Bhima said.

House Commission VI deputy chairman Dito Ganinduto urged the government to avoid any shake-ups until Jokowi formed a new Cabinet for his second term.

“If there is no urgency, it is best to hold off [on making any changes],” said Dito, who is also a member of the Golkar Party.

SOEs need to be managed by experienced professionals as the government has been working to consolidate the SOEs into a number of holding companies, and so politically motivated appointments should be avoided, he went on to say.

Separately, Rini brushed off concerns that there would be large management shake-ups during the meetings, which she said would focus on performance reviews.

“The main [item on the agenda] is to review the results [of the SOEs] in the first six months,” said Rini.

Any changes would take place only to fill in vacant or temporary posts, according to SOE deputy minister for financial, survey and consulting services Gatot Trihargo.

“There are some positions on boards of directors that need to be filled. For example, we have yet to appoint a successor to Pak Iman [Nugroho Soeko] as the finance director of BTN,” Gatot said.

During their latest annual shareholders meeting last May, BTN shareholders approved the appointment of Nixon LP Napitupulu as the bank’s finance director on an interim basis until another director is appointed to serve in the same position.

Gatot insisted that changes to management at SOEs were only done in the interest of improving performance.

“We want to optimize [the performance of] SOEs,” Gatot said. “Overall, they are performing well and we want to maintain that level going forward.”

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