Neutrality of civil servants<\/p>\n
From Republika<\/p>\n
This letter was inspired by the title of an article in one of
\nJakarta's dailies on Nov. 21, 1991, about six months before the
\n1992 general election, reading: Civil servants: Involvement in
\npolitical parties.<\/p>\n
This is just like the peeling of a proverbial fruit. If you
\ndon't peel it, you know nothing about what is inside. If you peel
\nit, you can see only seeds. This fruit will appear once in five
\nyears, near a general election. At present this fruit is ripe
\nagain.<\/p>\n
For over eight years the United Development Party (PPP) has
\nnurtured a hope and has been dreaming to make this hope come
\ntrue. Finally what it has been hoping for has materialized with
\nthe signing of a government regulation in lieu of Law No. 5\/1999,
\nwhich spells out the laws on political affairs, concerning
\nparticularly the political right of civil servants and their
\ninvolvement in political parties.<\/p>\n
It is clear from the government regulation referred to above
\nthat civil servants need not be loyal to one particular
\nsociopolitical organization. Requiring civil servants to keep
\ntheir loyalty to one sociopolitical organization only is both a
\nviolation against the philosophy and position of civil servants
\nas state apparatuses, servants of the state and servants of the
\ncommunity with loyalty to Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution,
\nand a dilemma. Why a dilemma? Because in terms of their duties,
\ncivil servants not only perform their general administrative
\nfunction but can also mobilize and expedite development
\nundertakings, through their dedication, in the interest of the
\npeople. In other words, civil servants do not belong to a
\nparticular sociopolitical organization.<\/p>\n
The New Order's practice of requiring civil servants to be
\nloyal to one particular sociopolitical organization has both
\nadversely affected civil servants in terms of their perception by
\nthe community and aroused the general public's dislike for them
\nwhen more and more of the failure and rottenness of the New Order
\nregime has come to light.<\/p>\n
This government regulation in lieu of Law No. 5\/1999 reflects
\nthe good intention of President B.J. Habibie's administration to
\nplay fair in the upcoming election, in the context of ensuring
\nthat the election will be held in the most honest and fair way
\npossible so that there will no longer be people's representatives
\ngiven the second position while the ballot counting shows that
\nthey earn the first or third position.<\/p>\n
Besides, the government now allows the biggest opportunity to
\nnon-governmental organizations to help monitor the elections,
\nwhich is aimed at politically educating the nation after being
\npolitically shackled for 32 years.<\/p>\n
We are at the threshold of the 1999 election now. The
\ngovernment has made available the software and hardware for the
\nelection. Suspicion is no longer needed at this stage. All that
\nis left to sociopolitical organizations is to brace themselves
\nfor the election.<\/p>\n
The general election must be held as scheduled and all the
\nstages planned, for the election must be properly followed.<\/p>\n
It is everybody's hope that the 1999 general election, which
\nwill be the most historic momentum in the reform era, will be
\nplain sailing. Therefore, all Indonesian people must sincerely
\nand earnestly pray to God that He will continue to protect them.<\/p>\n
DAUD HERYANTO<\/p>\n
Karawang, West Java<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/neutrality-of-civil-servants-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }