Amien warns Gus Dur to keep Cabinet intact<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien
\nRais cautioned President Abdurrahman Wahid on Thursday that
\nfurther changes to his economic team would be political suicide.<\/p>\n
He said the President should learn from the financial market
\nconsequences of his decision to fire Yusuf Kalla and Laksamana
\nSukardi as minister of industry and trade and state minister of
\ninvestment and state enterprises development respectively. He
\nnoted the subsequent fall in the rupiah's value.<\/p>\n
Amien was responding to speculation of another Cabinet
\nreshuffle targeting Coordinating Minister for the Economy,
\nFinance and Industry Kwik Kian Gie and Minister of Finance
\nBambang Sudibyo, who is also a member of the National Mandate
\nParty (PAN) which Amien chairs.<\/p>\n
\"If he (Abdurrahman) dares to fire Pak Kwik who is very honest
\nand has worked hard to build our country's economy, and Pak Dibyo
\nwho is quite qualified, I am sorry to say that the government
\nwould be digging its own grave,\" Amien said after opening a PAN
\nmeeting at the Bidakara building in South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The Assembly speaker asserted he would not tolerate the
\ndismissal of Kwik and Bambang, who he described as excellent
\nministers.<\/p>\n
Amien presided over the one-day meeting which was aimed at
\ndiscussing the party's five-year program, including preparations
\nfor the next general election in 2004.<\/p>\n
Minister of National Education Yahya Muhaimin was the only PAN
\nCabinet member to attend the event. Bambang accompanied the
\nPresident to a concurrent consultative meeting with the House of
\nRepresentatives (DPR).<\/p>\n
The President named Lt. Gen. (ret) Luhut Panjaitan and Rozy
\nMunir, a senior member of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), as the
\nreplacements for Golkar member Kalla and Laksamana of the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).<\/p>\n
Amien regretted the President's action of dismissing the
\nministers without prior consultation with PDI Perjuangan
\nchairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri and Golkar chairman Akbar
\nTandjung.<\/p>\n
Amien also rebuked Minister of Foreign Affairs Alwi Shihab,
\nwho is one of the President's confidants, for his statement on
\nWednesday that the Cabinet would undergo a massive reshuffle in
\nAugust. The 700-member Assembly will convene that month.<\/p>\n
\"Now all ministers have lost their spirit for the job, because
\nit is useless for them to work hard if they will be replaced
\nbefore August,\" Amien said.<\/p>\n
Without mentioning any names, Amien alleged there were
\nattempts by some ministers to control state-owned companies by
\nplacing their associates and relatives as top executives in the
\nfirms.<\/p>\n
\"I am entirely against the manner in which the government has
\nshaken up the management of state companies without clear
\nreasons,\" he said,<\/p>\n
\"There are directors at state companies that were replaced
\nafter only a few months in their positions and not because they
\nwere involved in corruption or were incompetent. The real reason
\nwas to put the cronies, relatives and family members of some
\npolitical leaders in the companies.\"<\/p>\n
\"This is a new regime of corruption, collusion and nepotism,\"
\nhe pointed out.<\/p>\n
He reiterated previous statements that corruption, collusion
\nand nepotism (KKN) under the six-month-old government were more
\nrampant than during the regime of president Soeharto.<\/p>\n
\"Soeharto needed from 10 years to 15 years to practice KKN,
\nbut this government just needs several months,\" Amien said.<\/p>\n
\"My heart is wrenched at observing all this irregularity and
\nseeing how the tree of corruption, collusion and nepotism is
\ngrowing robustly.\"<\/p>\n
Amien, however, did not name the state enterprises in which
\ndirectors were inappropriately replaced.<\/p>\n
The government, through the office of the state minister for
\ninvestment and state enterprise, has so far replaced the
\npresident of state-owned electricity company PT PLN and changed
\nthe board of directors and commissioners of oil and gas firm PT
\nPertamina, Bank BNI, domestic call provider PT Telkom and
\ninternational telephone operator PT Indosat. (cst\/prb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/amien-warns-gus-dur-to-keep-cabinet-intact-1447893297",
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