Future cabinet ministers 'must be professionals'<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto's former close aide, Rudini,
\nsaid yesterday that only professional ministers should be
\nincluded in the 1998\/2003 cabinet lineup.<\/p>\n
He declined to say whether members of the current cabinet were
\nnot professional, but said skillful and knowledgeable ministers
\nwould be able to produce good and achievable policies.<\/p>\n
In a simple gathering to mark his 68th birthday, Rudini also
\ncalled on the next president to appoint ministers who were
\nindependent and would not be a political burden.<\/p>\n
\"The elected president should, therefore, modify the existing
\ncriteria for cabinet ministers and place professionalism as a
\nmore important reason (for appointment) than political motives,\"
\nsaid Rudini, who was minister of home affairs in the 1988\/1993
\ncabinet.<\/p>\n
Political observer Arbi Sanit told The Jakarta Post that
\nseveral cabinet ministers have been less than professional.<\/p>\n
\"A number of cabinet members have in fact only been training
\non how to become ministers. They failed their tests,\" he said,
\nnaming several ministers who over the past five years were
\nembroiled in controversy.<\/p>\n
Arbi said the elected president could ask for advice from
\nformer cabinet ministers when screening candidates for his
\ncabinet lineup.<\/p>\n
Rudini and Arbi were responding to a recent political
\nstatement from Golkar's labor wing, SOKSI, that the future
\nministers of the 1998\/2003 cabinet should avoid becoming a
\n\"political burden\" for President Soeharto.<\/p>\n
The organization did not say, however, whether there were
\nministers in the current cabinet it considered a political burden
\nto the President.<\/p>\n
Rudini, currently chairman of an informal military think tank,
\nthe Institute for Strategic Studies of Indonesia (LPSI), said
\nplacing less emphasis on political reasons for ministerial
\nselection would not necessarily reduce the appointed people's
\nloyalty toward the president.<\/p>\n
\"It'll be impossible for a professional cabinet minister to
\nact against the state ideology Pancasila and the 1945
\nConstitution,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Article 17 of the 1945 Constitution stipulates that the
\npresident has the authority to appoint and dismiss cabinet
\nministers.<\/p>\n
Health<\/p>\n
Rudini also commented on the monetary crisis and rumors about
\nPresident Soeharto's ailing health.<\/p>\n
Rudini called on the current cabinet ministers to remain
\nunited and cooperate to help the economy recover.<\/p>\n
\"Cabinet ministers should not play their individual political
\ngames and seek their own safety,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"And they must remember that as cabinet ministers, they must
\nremain faithful to the President and not have different political
\nviews from one another.\"<\/p>\n
Referring to ways to regain economic stability in the country,
\nArbi suggested that the next president reemploy senior ministers,
\nincluding former coordinating minister for the economy and
\nfinance Widjojo Nitisastro and former minister of finance Frans
\nSeda, for the 1998\/2003 cabinet.<\/p>\n
\"We should temporarily set aside the regeneration plan to
\nintroduce younger ministers,\" he said. \"The only chance that the
\ncountry now has is to employ experienced and professional
\nministers to be in the cabinet lineup.\"<\/p>\n
Political observer Afan Gaffar of Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada
\nUniversity, suggested yesterday that the government conduct a
\nmassive political and economic reform in the country.<\/p>\n
\"The government should stop the spreading of malicious rumors,
\nwhich have been premeditatedly launched, by introducing political
\nand economic reforms and avoid making elementary mistakes,\" he
\nsaid. (imn\/har)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/future-cabinet-ministers-must-be-professionals-1447893297",
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