Twenty-one candidates have been proposed as members of the Financial Services Authority (OJK).
The list of 21 names was handed over by the selection team presided over by Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo on Monday (13/3). We really hope those selected will be the best people, not only in terms of technical ability but also in non-technical aspects.
Integrity and professionalism as underlined by President Jokowi as the prerequisites are very important here because the prospective commissioners will control the OJK, which incidentally is a "super body" with broad and strategic authority.
As an institution, the OJK will act as regulator and watchdog of the financial services industry, with assets of up to Rp 16 quadrillion that are vital in moving the economy.
The OJK will also supervise various fields, ranging from banking to insurance, the capital market, multi-finance, pension funds and non-bank financial entities. The vast responsibility and authority should prompt us all to take an interest in seeing that those chosen have the utmost integrity, competence, capability, professionalism and impeccable track records that are beyond suspicion.
The composition of the 21 proposed people is quite representative. There are candidates from Bank Indonesia, the OJK itself, the industrial circle, the Finance Ministry, academics and other government representatives; a composition that was possibly missing in the previous board of commissioners.
Amid a number of charges that the Finance Minister is dominating the selection as well as allegations of the existence of interest groups, business and politics, we believe the selection committee, which consists of people whose integrity is relatively beyond suspicion, has chosen the best candidates who will continuously promote transparency and objectivity.
To assess the integrity of the candidates, the selection committee was assisted by various institutions, including the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK).
The baton of selection is now in the hands of the House of Representatives. The confirmation hearings by the House will see the selection of seven of the 14 people, who will be proposed by the President to fill the posts on the OJK\'s board of commissioners for the 2017-2022 period.
There can be no bargaining with the principle of integrity, as emphasized by the President, and the selection committee has at least narrowed the chances of the House passing figures whose integrity is questionable and could prove to be problematic during their tenure, as has happened with a number of commissioners or heads of state institutions, who previously underwent screening by the House. We all have a duty to monitor the process.
