House set to announce new

House set to announce new
Bank Indonesia governor

Dadan Wijaksana
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

The House of Representatives is scheduled to select the new
governor of Bank Indonesia on Tuesday, following a "fit-and-
proper test" of the three candidates that lasted until late on
Monday.

Max Muin, chairman of House Commission IX for financial
affairs, which conducted the test, said the commission was
committed to selecting the new governor before a planned plenary
meeting of the House on Tuesday.

"We will wrap up the process tonight (Monday night). Following
the fit-and-proper test of all the candidates, we are going to
have an internal meeting to determine the winner," Max said,
adding that the meeting would start at about 10 p.m.

He brushed aside the possibility of any delays, saying: "The
target is for us (the commission) to present one name at the
plenary session tomorrow (Tuesday). So we should have the
winner's name before that. We will work through until dawn if we
have to."

He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the screening
of the three candidates -- Miranda S. Goeltom, Cyrillius Harinowo
and Burhanuddin Abdullah.

The names of the candidates were submitted to the House by
President Megawati Soekarnoputri in February. Miranda is
currently a deputy governor of the central bank, and the other
two candidates have both served in senior positions with the
bank.

The winning candidate will replace Sjahril Sabirin, whose
tenure ends on May 17. Sjahril, who replaced Sudradjat
Djiwandono, has held the post since 1998.

It was unclear as of late on Monday who would take over the
highest post in the country's monetary authority. But it has been
widely expected that the selection process will be marked by
political wrangling between factions on the commission.

Anyone who witnessed the fit-and-proper tests would likely
agree that they were a mere formality and unlikely to play a
crucial role in determining the commission's choice.

Miranda, for example, received more than 120 questions but was
only given about 40 minutes to answer the questions during a six-
hour hearing.

Nevertheless, of the three nominees Miranda is seen as the
front-runner because she reportedly has the backing of Megawati's
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the country's largest
party.

Miranda, however, will be challenged by Burhanuddin, a former
chief economics minister in the previous administration who
appears to have the backing of the Islamic-based factions.

The final choice could depend on which way the Golkar Party,
the second largest party in the country, leans.

Cyrillius, despite being highly respected as a professional,
seems to have little chance because of a lack of political
support.

But with Golkar's votes hanging in the balance, any of the
three nominees has a chance of leading the central bank.