BPK opposes new member selection process

BPK opposes new member selection process

Tony Hotland, Jakarta

A senior board member of the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) has
criticized the ongoing selection of the agency's new board
members at the House of Representatives, saying that the process
violated the Constitution.

BPK deputy chairman Bambang Triadji said on Friday that the
selection process should have been put off until the Regional
Representatives Council (DPD) was formed. The DPD, whose members
were elected on April 5, is scheduled to be set up in September.

He said that BPK would consider filing an objection at the
Constitutional Court.

"The amended Constitution says BPK members are selected by the
House of Representatives with consideration from the DPD, before
being presented to the President, who will pick among those
selected by the House," Bambang said, referring to chapter VIIIA
Article 23f (1).

The House is scheduled to hold a plenary meeting to discuss
the candidates for BPK board members on Monday. The House's
Commission IX on financial affairs has picked 21 of the 40 names
proposed by House factions to fill seven posts at the agency. The
president will finally select one name for each post.

Among those on the shortlist are the Central Bank's Senior
Deputy Governor Anwar Nasution, former president of state-owned
firm Pertamina Baihaki Hakim, House member Abdullah Zainie, and
current BPK member Mukrom As'ad.

Bambang, who was among the 40 but not among the 21, also said
that the interview/screening process had not been comprehensive
because only few commission members were present. "Only eight
members were present during my interview, out of the actual 56
commission members. I heard (BPK member) Bambang Wahyudi was
interviewed by just three members. How could they (absent
commission members) make a judgment on a candidate, if they
weren't even there?" he said.

Commission head Emir Moeis previously said the 21 names were
selected through a vote instead of a scoring system based on the
interviews.

Bambang added that such a screening process should have been
conducted by an independent team, rather than the commission, in
view of the fact that some members of the commission were among
the 41 candidates.

Commission deputy Paskah Suzetta insisted, however, that there
were no legal errors made during the selection process.

"The addendum to the amended Constitution says all decisions
must refer to the existing law until a new law to replace the old
one is enacted. Besides, the current BPK board members are no
longer legitimate because their term expired last year. They're
still in their posts because of a presidential decree," Paskah
explained to The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

BPK Law No. 5/1973 stipulates that BPK members are proposed by
the House before being selected by the president.

He added that it was the commission's policy to form teams
consisting of eight members to interview each candidate. "Do you
expect all 56 Commission IX members to stay there day and night?
It is sufficient that the teams report the results to all the
other members," he said.

Paskah also explained that the candidates from the commission
itself were not allowed to be present during the interviews of
other candidates and were not entitled to cast their votes.

Four commission members participated in the selection and all
of them were put on the shortlist.