Rizal Ramli candidate for Pertamina president: Report

Former finance minister Rizal Ramli is a strong candidate to become the new president of the state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina, according to the Tempo daily.

The paper quoted a source as saying that Pertamina board of commissioners held a meeting late on Friday to discuss the condition of Pertamina after the launching of the new oil and gas law.

One of the topics was a reshuffle in the Pertamina board of directors, and Rizal?s name gained support at the meeting, the source said.

The other candidate to replace current Pertamina president Baihaki Hakim is Martiono, a former president of the company.

Rizal, who is also a former coordinating minister for the economy under the previous president Abdurrahman Wahid, said that he had not been informed about the plan. ?Until now, nobody has contacted me.?

But he said news about his appointment to become Pertamina?s boss was merely a rumor. ?It?s a gossip. Jakarta has now become a town full of gossip. Any one can be a target of gossip,? he said.

Meanwhile, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Purnomo Yusgiantoro said that until now there?s no plan to replace Baihaki. ?Until now there?s no such plan.?(*)