Race for OJK commissioner posts begins.

Byline: Hans David Tampubolon, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The race is on for the most powerful seats in Indonesia's financial sector after more than 150 experts and professionals enlisted in a drafting process to become Financial Service Authority (OJK) commissioners, which ended on Tuesday.

The candidates will compete for seven out of nine seats as two places are allocated to officials specifically assigned by the Finance Ministry and the central bank.

A selection committee, led by Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo, will have a little more than one month to select three candidates for each of the seven seats and recommend the names to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The President is given 12 working days to eliminate one candidate from each of the commissioner posts prior to submitting his final proposal to the House of Representatives. There will then be a maximum of 45 working days for a fit and proper test to name the first ever OJK commissioner board members.

Under the law, the OJK will have the authority to regulate and monitor the financial industry, taking over the banking supervisory role from Bank Indonesia (BI) and entire authority over the Capital Market and Financial Institutions Supervisory Agency (Bapepam-LK).

The selection process is expected to witness a struggle for power between the Finance Ministry and the …