Cabinet members differ on giving up party posts<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Cabinet members are split over whether they are obliged to quit
\ntheir positions in their respective political parties as a
\nconsequence of the contract they signed to put state duties
\nbefore party interests.<\/p>\n
Of eight ministers who hold party posts, two of them have
\nexplicitly refused to give up their post, while the rest are
\nstill hanging in the balance pending a decision from their
\nrespective parties.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the Crescent Star Party (PBB) Yusril Ihza Mahendra
\nand its secretary-general M.S. Ka'ban insisted there would be no
\nconflict of interest if they kept their position in the Islam-
\nbased party.<\/p>\n
\"Our party regulations do not oblige us to resign, but we will
\nfocus on the state duties and not the party's,\" Ka'ban said over
\nthe weekend as quoted by Antara.<\/p>\n
He said Yusril had demonstrated that being a party chairman
\ndid not necessarily affect his performance as a Cabinet minister
\nand neither did he use his position as a state official for the
\nbenefit of his party.<\/p>\n
Yusril, who served as justice minister under presidents
\nAbdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Soekarnoputri, is currently state
\nsecretary, while Ka'ban is minister of forestry.<\/p>\n
Before assuming their ministerial posts, all candidates for
\nthe Cabinet signed an agreement with president-elect Susilo
\nBambang Yudhoyono that requires them to focus on state duties,
\nundergo regular performance appraisals and be ready to resign in
\ncase of poor achievement. Susilo, however, did not ask the
\nministerial candidates to leave their positions in their
\nrespective parties.<\/p>\n
The contract also applied to State Minister of Administrative
\nReforms Taufik Effendi who is also deputy secretary-general of
\nthe Democratic Party, which Susilo cofounded.<\/p>\n
Political analyst Indria Samego of the Indonesian Institute of
\nSciences (LIPI) said the fact that the President did not request
\nthe ministers to resign from party posts raised a question about
\nthe credibility of the contract.<\/p>\n
\"If it supposed to be a contract to ensure loyalty to the
\nstate; such a requirement should be there. Without it then the
\nsignificance of the deal is questionable,\" Indria told The
\nJakarta Post on Sunday.<\/p>\n
He suggested that all ministers who hold executive posts in
\npolitical parties follow in the footstep of People's Consultative
\nAssembly Speaker Hidayat Nur Wahid, who resigned as Prosperous
\nJustice Party (PKS) chairman.<\/p>\n
Two ministers from the National Awakening Party (PKB),
\nCoordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi Shihab and State
\nMinister for the Development of Disadvantaged Regions Saifullah
\nYusuf said they were ready to give up their party positions, but
\nwould wait until the PKB congress next year.<\/p>\n
\"It would not be a big deal if I had to resign as party
\nexecutive tomorrow,\" Saifullah told the Post on Sunday.<\/p>\n
He said things might be a little difficult for Alwi as he
\nreceived the mandate as PKB chairman during its congress in 2000,
\ntherefore he could not just quit.<\/p>\n
\"Alwi has to wait until the party congress to decide whether
\nhe has to give up the position,\" Saifullah added.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a sociologist from the University of Indonesia,
\nGanda Upaya, said not only ministers who hold a position in
\npolitical parties, but those who hold positions in the corporate
\nworld or any other groups should also fully concentrate on their
\nnew positions.<\/p>\n
\"They should resign to prevent a possible conflict of interest
\nor misuse of their power,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Ganda said they should quit their parties or corporate
\npositions on their own initiative as there was no regulation
\nrequiring state officials to do so.<\/p>\n
Minister party\/firm affiliation position<\/p>\n
1. Yusril Ihza Mahendra Crescent Star Party chairman<\/p>\n
2. M.S Ka'ban Crescent Star Party secretary-general<\/p>\n
3. Alwi Shihab National Awakening Party chairman<\/p>\n
4. Saifullah Yusuf National Awakening Party secretary-general<\/p>\n
5. Hatta Radjasa National Mandate Party secretary-general<\/p>\n
6. Bambang Sudibyo National Mandate Party deputy chairman<\/p>\n
7. Suryadharma Ali United Development Party deputy chairman<\/p>\n
8. Taufik Effendi Democratic Party deputy sec. general<\/p>\n
9. Soegiarto Medco Energy finance director<\/p>\n
10. Aburizal Bakrie Bakrie Business Group owner<\/p>\n
11. Fahmi Idris Kodel Group owner<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/cabinet-members-differ-on-giving-up-party-posts-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }