Pertamina's new president expected to be found soon

Pertamina's new president expected to be found soon

JAKARTA (JP): The new commissioners of the state oil and gas
Pertamina expect to find a new president for the company in one
or two weeks, Minister of Mines and Energy Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono said on Friday.

Bambang, who is also president commissioner of Pertamina, said
Pertamina's board of commissioners was currently studying
potential candidates to replace the current president, Martiono
Hadianto.

"We have yet to decide when to replace him (Martiono), but the
sooner the better," Bambang told reporters at his office.

He said the new president of Pertamina should be capable and
meet the criteria set by President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Abdurrahman, popularly known as Gus Dur, asked ministers on
Thursday to select a new president for Pertamina -- someone who
is honest, able to conduct transparent management and capable of
leading Pertamina in an era of global competition.

Bambang declined to specify the reason why President
Abdurrahman wanted to replace Martiono, but he denied the
allegation that "Martiono has failed."

He said he understood that Pertamina's leadership needed
"refreshing" as it was going to carry out the difficult task of
turning itself into an efficient and productive oil and gas
company.

When asked whether the government also intended to replace
Pertamina's board of directors, Bambang said the government was
currently only focusing on Martiono's replacement.

Separately, Martiono said he appreciated Gus Dur's intention
to replace him and find a new leader for Pertamina.

"Gus Dur made a normal, clear and fair statement. It's normal
that a president chooses new assistants who will go in-line with
his or her policy," Martiono told reporters at a small meeting in
Pertamina's head office.

Furthermore, he said, in setting the criteria for Pertamina's
new leader, Gus Dur had publicly revealed the quality of
Pertamina's future president, and as such had invited them to
take part in controlling the new leader's performance.

Martiono also said that unlike former president Soeharto and
B.J. Habibie, Gus Dur had opted to comply with existing
regulations that require Pertamina's board of commissioners to
nominate the candidates for Pertamina's president.

"Soeharto always handpicked Pertamina's new president by
himself, but he did it such a way that his minister of mines and
energy appeared to make the nomination," he said.

Pertamina's new board of commissioners was inaugurated
yesterday by Gus Dur.

Asked whether a change in Pertamina's leadership would affect
the company's current restructuring programs, Martiono said he
expected that would not happen as the programs were in-line with
the government's policies.

As part of the restructuring program, Pertamina would invite
an international consultancy firm to evaluate the performances of
Pertamina's directors and unit heads, Martiono said.

"We'll invite an international agency for this job, because I
want the assessment to be objective," he said.

According to Martiono, there was a big chance one of
Pertamina's employees could become president in the future.

"Out of 28,800 employees, we should have the right person," he
said. (03)