Minister or Ministry?<\/p>\n
The new government recently decided that two ministries, the
\nMinistry of Information and Ministry of Social Affairs, were to
\nbe closed down, reportedly leaving about 78,000 employees in
\nconfusion of what life is going to be like in the days to come.
\nRegardless of the pros and cons and aired reasons pertaining to
\nthe function and performance of the said ministries in the past
\ndecades, the 1945 Constitution does make this possible to happen
\nas it is mentioned in the Articles of Chapter 17 that the
\nPresident has the right to appoint and terminate ministers.<\/p>\n
The only question left is for which historical context the
\nfounding fathers of this country actually referred to when they
\nratified this Chapter 17? Did they mean ministries are somehow
\nestablished first and this chapter is only to facilitate the
\nPresident to pick or kick out associated ministers as
\nindividuals? Or did they mean that with this Chapter the
\nPresident could at any time establish or abolish any ministries
\nas manned institutions?<\/p>\n
As an opinion, and at the same time, as a proposal to Amien
\nRais, now is the right time for the committee of the People's
\nConsultative Assembly (MPR) in charge of the 1945 Constitution
\namendment to conduct a thorough review on this particular Chapter
\n17, especially in consideration of human rights. Without a
\nrelated amendment, strict implementation of the presently valid
\nChapter 17 may lead to a similar situation in the future where
\nemployees of certain government institutions can suddenly lose
\ntheir status overnight, most likely during the establishment of a
\nnew Cabinet. And although it sounds practically impossible, I
\ncould not imagine if someday, due to one reason or another, the
\nMinistry of Defense is abolished. On the contrary, even in
\nprivate businesses, a liquidation of a company is normally not
\nmade in such an abrupt manner.<\/p>\n
ATTILA RAHAYOE<\/p>\n
Bekasi, West Java<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/minister-or-ministry-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }