JAKARTA. The House of Representative has postponed the election of a new Bank Indonesia (BI) deputy governor to July 8, or a week behind the initial schedule of July 1.

"The majority of the political factions have stated they haven't had enough time to decide who to choose for deputy governor," the vice chairman of Commission XI overseeing banking and finance, Harry Azhar Aziz, said on Tuesday, as quoted by Kompas.com.

He added, "Therefore, they have asked for a postponement until next week."

According to Harry, currently the House is still running the fit-and-proper tests for the BI deputy governor candidates, Hendar and Mulya Siregar — both assistant governors — and Treesna Wilda Suparyono, the BI executive director of foreign exchange management.

All of the BI deputy governor candidates to replace Muliaman D. Hadad were proposed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

"We won't select the candidates based on their seniority. However, we will select the right figure who can take care of both 'macro-prudential' regulation and ensure the stability of the BI financial system," Harry said.

Whichever candidate would be elected to become BI deputy governor, he added, would have to prioritize their vision and mission of above anything else, since the House wants them to be capable of protecting the national banks from foreign interests.

"The final decision will depend on the political factions. They can elect a BI deputy governor through a vote or by consensus," he added. (fan)

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