Audit body chief to be selected

Audit body chief to be selected

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives will name three
candidates tomorrow for the Supreme Audit Agency chairmanship to
replace J.B. Sumarlin who retired last month.

Deputy House Speaker Abdul Gafur said after a meeting among
leaders of the legislative body that the four factions in the
House would pick one candidate from the audit body, and the rest
from other institutions.

"The other two nominees could be a cabinet minister or a high-
ranking official from the Armed Forces. In principle, we will
nominate people with expertise in financial management and
auditing," Gafur said.

The three candidates' names will be presented to the
President, who will select them as required by law.

Gafur refused to identify the three figures who would be
selected, but admitted that the deputy chairman of the audit
agency, Kunarto, had been widely supported.

"Let's wait for the factions' decision. I don't know who is
the appropriate nominee for the top job at the audit body," Gafur
said.

Kunarto, who turns 58 next June, was elected as deputy for
Sumarlin, the minister of finance from 1988 to 1993, after
completing his service as the national police chief in 1993.

President Soeharto discharged Sumarlin after he reached the
mandatory retirement age of 65 early last month. Since then, the
agency has been chaired collectively by its members.

A 1973 law on the jurisdiction of the supreme audit agency
says that the body, which is independent from the executive
branch, has the authority to supervise the financial affairs of
the government and the implementation of the state budgets.

The body reports its supervision activities to the House twice
a year. (amd)