House begins selection hearings for BP Migas chief

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The House of Representatives started the selection process on Monday for the chairman of the Oil and Gas Upstream Regulatory Agency (BP Migas).

The House is required to select one of the three candidates nominated by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono -- the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources' director general of oil and gas, Iin Arifin Takhyan, BP Migas deputy chairman Kardaya Warnika and BP Migas operations director Trijana Kartoatmodjo.

During Monday's selection hearings, the three were asked similar questions designed to ascertain their expertise in the oil and gas field and their plans for the future of the state agency.

Kardaya took the stand first in front of members of the House's mining and environment commission, followed by Trijana and Iin.

Commission chairman Agusman Effendi of Golkar Party faction said that each candidate spent around two hours answering the questions posed by the legislators.

"Most of the questions, of course, were intended to appraise their capabilities and competence, as well as their knowledge of the industry," he told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the hearings.

Agusman said that his faction, the largest in the House, had yet to select a candidate to fill the post.

"We will first discuss the matter among faction members before we select one of the three candidates," he added.

But the second largest party in the House, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), was more forthcoming about the issue.

"Our faction prefers that Kardaya gets the chairmanship position as he has been with the agency for some time and has a deep knowledge about BP Migas," PDI-P legislator Pramono Anung told the Post, adding that Kardaya was also the youngest of the three candidates.

Pramono refused to say when the legislators would announce their selection, saying that the House would send its recommendation to the President first.

The current BP Migas chairman, Rachmat Sudibyo, who has already reached retirement age, had his contract extended through last year as a result of the general elections.

As soon as the new government was elected, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources proposed the three candidates to the President before the latter forwarded their names to the House.

The President appoints the BP Migas chairman by way of presidential decree.