Golkar's felonious ploy<\/p>\n
Every time Indonesians, whose sense of humanitarianism remains
\nintact, speak about civil servants, they do so with strong
\nemotion. This is due to the fact that for decades, administration
\nafter administration, the crusade to improve the lot of civil
\nservants has proved unfruitful.<\/p>\n
However, with or without this sense of empathy, when leaders
\nof the government party, Golkar, speak about this worst paid
\ngroup of our workforce, they always assess the political
\nimportance of the hapless civil servants.<\/p>\n
As inhumane as it may sound, for more than three decades under
\nthe implementation of president Soeharto's dirty politics,
\nmembers of the Indonesian Civil Servants Corps were made part and
\nparcel of the authoritarian machine. Soeharto's fall was no
\nguarantee that the rotten mentality he left behind would vanish,
\nand today there are still many reminders of this ugly legacy.<\/p>\n
The weird fuss now dominating the House of Representatives'
\ndiscussions on political bills, which are now touching upon the
\nstatus of civil servants, was initiated by Golkar, the dominant
\nfaction.<\/p>\n
In the minds of Golkar leaders, the four million civil
\nservants, many of whom still hold key position in the
\nadministration, should be given the freedom to become executives
\nof any political party. The government, which sponsors the bill,
\nand all other House factions are not in agreement over the idea
\nbecause it will possibly disrupt the fair services rendered to
\nthe public by civil servants.<\/p>\n
According to the bill, the civic rights of civil servants will
\nnot be denied at all since they will have the right to vote in
\ngeneral elections.<\/p>\n
A political analyst has warned against such a move, saying
\nthat if civil servants are allowed to be executives of political
\nparties, it would create potential \"power politics\", whereas in
\nany situation the bureaucracy should remain neutral in politics.
\nThey should serve all with absolute impartiality. Another
\npolitical observer has also said that allowing civil servants to
\nenter politics would be tantamount to allowing them to violate
\nother people's human rights.<\/p>\n
While Golkar has cited human rights as a reason for its
\nproposal, many people have no difficulty in guessing what kind of
\nhuman rights the group believes in. Golkar leaders must be well
\naware that in the provinces, bureaucrats, who used to violate
\nevery constitutional right of their citizens to ensure the
\nreelection of Soeharto, are still operating under the same old
\nmentality. Many of them foolishly feel that Soeharto still rules
\nsupreme both over the country and over Golkar.<\/p>\n
By fighting for the proposal -- and it will surely get what it
\nwants due to the majority it enjoys in the House -- Golkar
\nleaders will have to make use of the remnants of the politically
\ncorrupt bureaucrats to keep the group's head above water in next
\nJune's poll.<\/p>\n
Many Golkar executives have appeared panic-stricken at the
\nburgeoning of new political parties and the rejection of Golkar
\nby the public, many of who blame it for impoverishing the people.<\/p>\n
With new members of the executive board or not, with new
\npolitical clout or not, in the eyes of the public Golkar comes
\nwith a hereditary sin attached to it. It is felt that the group
\nis nothing but a horrible ghost of Soeharto's past and it must be
\nthe first party rejected in the elections.<\/p>\n
Its determination to see the proposal accepted shows that it
\nis a curse to the nation's fight for reform. That so many parties
\nhave called for public support outside the legislative body to
\nfoil Golkar's intrigue shows how serious it would be if the
\nproposal is enacted into law.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/golkars-felonious-ploy-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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