When we amended the 1945 Constitution in 2000-2002, we decided power must no longer be concentrated in the hands of a single person as it was when Soeharto ruled the country unopposed for more than three decades.

Thus, some of the powers that the constitution vests in the President of the Republic are now being shared with the House of Representatives, the Regional Representatives Council, the judiciary, and also the regional administrations through the move to decentralize and give them greater autonomy.

But while the political setup outlined by the constitution serves to prevent emergence of another tyrant, we get the impression that sometimes too much power sharing can be bad, especially if it is irresponsible. Worst, it can lead to political paralysis.

The decision by the House of Representatives to reject the candidates for Bank Indonesia (central bank) governor proposed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is a case in point.

The writing was on the wall when Yudhoyono submitted the names of Agus Martowardoyo and Raden Pardede last month. The majority of the House's factions – led by the main opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) but also including parties that are members of Yudhoyono's coalition government – indicated from the beginning they wouldn't endorse either candidate.

House Commission XI handling the nomination went through with fit-and-proper tests for both men anyway. When the commission voted last week, predictably a majority rejected both candidates. The ball is back in Yudhoyono's court to come up with candidates the House will endorse.

The power of state appointments is a prerogative the House now enjoys in collaboration with the President.

The power-sharing arrangement applies to appointments of ambassadors, the central bank governor and deputy governors, Indonesian Military chief, National Police chief, state audit body chief, Supreme Court justices, as well as the members of many state commissions. All these appointments were once made by Soeharto, which ensured expediency but opened the door to nepotism and collusion.

While appointments such as the Bank Indonesia governor are still made by the president, the house now has an effective veto power.

A sign that the House went overboard in wrestling some powers away from the President is shown by an article in the constitution that makes even the appointment of foreign ambassadors to Indonesia subject to House approval. In no other country is the appointment of foreign ambassadors decided by the parliament of the host country. While the House has always endorsed all envoys proposed by the government, early this month it publicly rejected the nomination of the ambassador-nominee from Myanmar.

The Bank Indonesia governor issue is turning into a psychological tug-of-war between the President and the majority factions in the House. It is not the qualifications of the candidates (Agus Martowardoyo has an impeccable and proven track record as a banker) at the core of the dispute, as much as political posturing by the factions ahead of the 2009 elections.

Every move of the President and the political parties in recent months can be interpreted on the basis of how it would impact their respective chances for success at the polls. Yudhoyono is also at fault for promising not to increase domestic fuel prices, and thus pumping more subsidies to motorists, but cutting back on essential spending like health care, education and defense.

Not only are both the President and the House guilty of electioneering so far ahead of time, but they are doing it at the expense of good governance and effective government. Bank Indonesia is already beset by many problems, what with reopening an investigation into liquidity credits given to the country's conglomerates and the investigation into alleged improper use of co-op funds by senior bank officials, including the outgoing governor Burhanuddin Abdullah, whose term of office ends May 17.

The integrity and credibility of the central bank is important in being able to keep the country's currency and monetary affairs separate from politics. We could do without the delay caused by the election games the President and the House are playing.