Follow-up directives for civil servants issued<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The State Employees Administration issued two
\ndetailed directives for civil servants wishing to abandon the
\nbureaucracy for politics, Minister\/State Secretary Akbar Tandjung
\nsaid on Monday.<\/p>\n
The directives were a follow up to Government Regulation No.
\n12\/1999 on civil servants' neutrality, Akbar said during a
\nhearing with the House of Representatives Commission II for
\ndomestic and foreign political affairs. He said the campaign to
\nfamiliarize the public with the directives began on Feb. 1.<\/p>\n
The directives, dated Jan. 29, inform civil servants of the
\nprocedures they must follow if they wish to join political
\nparties.<\/p>\n
Government Regulation No. 12\/1999 is a revision of Government
\nRegulation No. 5\/1999, which caused an uproar because it was seen
\nas favoring Golkar. The regulation itself was demanded as a means
\nto ensure that Golkar would no longer be able to exploit civil
\nservants for its political interests.<\/p>\n
Regulation No. 12\/1999 states that civil servants can join or
\nbecome executives of political parties if their \"direct
\nsupervisors\" give them permission to resign from the bureaucracy.<\/p>\n
The new directives define \"direct supervisors\" as follows:<\/p>\n
* portfolio Cabinet Ministers are the direct supervisors for
\nsecretary-generals, director generals, inspector generals, heads
\nof state agencies, rectors of state
\nuniversities\/institutes\/colleges, governors and other officials
\nof the same rank in ministries.<\/p>\n
* the minister\/state secretary is the direct supervisor for heads
\nof state agencies under nonportfolio ministries, heads of the
\nsecretariats of high state bodies and heads of other high offices
\nappointed by the President.<\/p>\n
* the attorney general is the direct supervisor for deputy
\nattorney generals and other officials of the same rank in the
\noffice.<\/p>\n
* any officials who directly supervise civil servants.<\/p>\n
In addition, civil servants wishing to join political parties
\nmust report to their direct supervisors within three months after
\nformally becoming members or executives of the parties.<\/p>\n
Their direct supervisors would then be obliged to present a
\nreceipt acknowledging that they had received the report. The
\ndirect supervisors, would, in turn, be obliged to file their own
\nreport to \"officials with authority\" within two days.<\/p>\n
The \"officials with authority\" would then carefully consider
\nthe reports and decide, within the 15 days, whether or not to
\ngrant a leave for the civil servant in question to join a
\npolitical party.<\/p>\n
Those who are granted a leave would later be honorably
\ndischarged from the civil service. Within a month of first making
\ntheir report, the civil servant in question would be able to
\nofficially leave the bureaucracy.<\/p>\n
Also during the hearing presided over by legislator Hadi
\nSutrisno, Akbar revealed that the government had retrieved Rp
\n5.73 trillion from seven charitable foundations chaired by former
\npresident Soeharto.<\/p>\n
Akbar said that the government retrieved Rp 1.19 trillion from
\nthe Dharmais Foundation, Rp 1.19 trillion from the Dakab
\nFoundation, Rp 1.25 trillion from the Supersemar Foundation, Rp
\n215 billion from the Amal Bhakti Muslim Pancasila Foundation, Rp
\n1.7 trillion from the Dana Sejahtera Mandiri Foundation, Rp 79.3
\nbillion from the Gotong Royong Foundation and Rp 22.5 billion
\nfrom the Trikora Foundation.<\/p>\n
The retrieved money will be managed in accordance with
\nPresidential Decree No. 195\/1998, which states that the
\ncoordinating minister for people's welfare and poverty
\neradication will manage the fund on behalf of the government,
\nAkbar said.<\/p>\n
The coordinating minister is authorized to appoint
\nprofessionals to manage the fund for the greatest benefit of the
\npeople and poverty eradication programs, he said.<\/p>\n
During the commission meeting, legislators asked Akbar about
\nthe gold, jewelry and cash donated by many Indonesians during
\nSoeharto's \"Love Indonesia\" campaign meant to alleviate the
\nimpact of the economic crisis.<\/p>\n
Akbar said the campaign, which began in January 1998, raised a
\ntotal of Rp 17 billion in cash. The money went into state
\ncoffers, he added.<\/p>\n
In addition, a total of 261.6 kilograms of gold in the form of
\njewelry had also been collected. This gold was auctioned off last
\nDecember, raising a total of Rp 5.25 billion which was also in
\nstate coffers, Akbar said.<\/p>\n
Some of the funds had been used to send aid to poor people in
\nthe provinces which donated cash and gold during the campaign,
\nwhile the remaining Rp 12 billion was being kept in state coffers
\nto provide further assistance. (01\/aan\/swe)<\/p>",
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