Professional civil service key to recovery<\/p>\n
Edi Suhardi , Programme Advisor, Partnership for Governance
\nReform in Indonesia, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Public services in Indonesia have been labeled as lethargic
\nand mired in low productivity and red tape. An undemocratic and
\ninward-looking public service regime has ended up with the
\nconcentration and corruption of power as its inevitable
\nconsequence. This bleak feature was the precursor to the worst-
\never economic crisis to hit the country in the late 1990s.<\/p>\n
For more than 30 years, civil servants did not serve the
\npublic but rather the needs of a ruling group. This was
\ninstitutionalized in the form of the civil servants corps,
\nKorpri, with compulsory membership for all government employees,
\nfor 32 years. Korpri, an organization tethered to the central
\ngovernment, was effective in maintaining government officials'
\nallegiance to the ruling party and ensuring the loyalty of
\nregional governments to the central government.<\/p>\n
Public service reform is inevitable in the new democratic era
\nunder a decentralized regime of governance. However, services
\nhave faced a formidable challenge in revamping both their
\ninternal operations and repositioning themselves within a
\nchanging environment.<\/p>\n
President Megawati remarked, in Lembang before Korpri members
\nin December 2003, that civil servants would be neutral in the
\n2004 election. Furthermore, the state minister of administrative
\nreforms reiterated that public services would maintain their
\nneutrality.<\/p>\n
The office of the state ministry is undertaking reforms to
\nachieve three targets: namely, improving professionalism geared
\ntoward efficiency and better performance, and securing the
\nneutrality and improved welfare of civil servants. However, the
\nmoves have faced a number of hurdles, including synchronization
\nwith the context of decentralization and regional autonomy, and
\nbickering between central government agencies. Challenges to
\nreform public services have mainly originated from the absence of
\nconcerted efforts of all concerned in central government to
\nestablish an agenda for reform.<\/p>\n
Most reform efforts are politically motivated and externally
\nprogrammed by partisan interests, rather than managerially
\ninduced and evolved from within the bureaucracy. Efforts to
\nreform public services have been met with indifference, having
\nbeen the privilege of central government through a top-down,
\ntrickle approach.<\/p>\n
At least two factors have contributed to the minimal impact of
\nreform, i.e. no clear direction and proper legal instruments to
\nmake reform a reality, and an absence of a democratic mechanism.
\nEfforts have merely focused on an internal system of structural
\nand functional features, but overlooked the need for
\ndemocratization. The concept of democratization of public
\nservices is usually eschewed, although it represents the hard
\ncore of reform.<\/p>\n
That is the reason why Korpri has remained intact in the
\ncurrent reform era. It has been preserved as a political tool of
\ncentral government to control regional governments. The overhaul
\nof Korpri is seen as a pragmatic initiative to democratize and
\nstimulate a holistic public service reform.<\/p>\n
It is about time for a total reform of public services in
\nIndonesia. The efforts must center on the remedy of the many ills
\nthat have arisen from an autocratic and centralistic regime over
\nthree decades. These include democratization of public services
\nand promulgation of a new public service law.<\/p>\n
A new direction for the democratization of public services
\nwill likely encounter repercussions from both political and
\nbureaucratic establishments in the process of readaption to a new
\ncontext.<\/p>\n
Democratization is to aim at creating a new approach, i.e.
\nenabling public scrutiny, partnership with other stakeholders, as
\nwell as creating a service-oriented mechanism and an accountable
\nsystem. Public services should be given freedom to organize
\nthemselves on the basis of needs at local, provincial and
\nnational level.<\/p>\n
Within the context of decentralization and democratization,
\nthe existence of Korpri, as a political machine, is obviously
\nirrelevant. Korpri needs to undergo total reform to renew its
\nmandate in the new governance and redefine its organizational
\nstructure. Otherwise, Korpri should be dissolved when members do
\nnot feel the urgency of such an institution.<\/p>\n
Korpri at national level should be redesigned to become a
\nconfederation of locally based public service organizations. A
\nnew decentralized public service association, if deemed
\nnecessary, should be initiated by the officials themselves, and
\nevolved through a participatory, bottom-up mechanism to the
\nnational level.<\/p>\n
Democratic public service, fully people-governed, prevents
\ninstitutional influence and pressure from political parties and
\ninterest groups at local and national level. It will both
\naccommodate the diversity of regional interests and enhance
\nnational stability and unity.<\/p>\n
Decentralization does not mean only restructuring public
\nadministration: It also refers to its functions. The capacity of
\nthe civil service to manage decentralization and its ability to
\nmake good strategic public policy is the key to implementation of
\nreform. In essence, public administration is the most important
\naspect of the decentralization framework (Christine Fletcher,
\n2003).<\/p>\n
A decentralized public service can raise the quality and
\naccess to services that benefit the poor. It allows closer
\ninvolvement of the representatives of the poor in public policy
\nmaking, thereby enhancing its pro-poor nature, its accountability
\nand the sustainability of its outcomes.<\/p>\n
But decentralization also involves some risks that should not
\nbe underestimated: Local government can be captured by local
\nelites, regional disparities can be deepened or central
\ngovernment can disclaim responsibility for the poor. The public
\nsector symbolizes a mixture of central and regional interests.<\/p>\n
Local government reforms are now gradually shaping new
\nattitudes in public service management, adapting more to local
\ninterest, and thus affect the nature of public service in many
\nspecific areas. Such development should be taken into account in
\nreforming public services in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Democratization and reform of the public sector should be
\ninstitutionalized within a policy and regulatory framework. All
\npublic service-related legislation should be reviewed and further
\namended, reflecting the needs of a newly reformed and democratic
\npublic administration, and consolidated under public service
\nlaws. Under such circumstances, Law 43\/1999 on amendment of Law
\n8\/1974 (the ordinance of the civil service) needs to be reviewed.<\/p>\n
The proposed law should mirror a climate that is both reform-
\nminded and democratized. It needs to incorporate at least three
\ncomponents: 1) the institutionalization of democracy and
\nenablement of public participation; 2) the mainstreaming of good
\ngovernance to ensure effective and efficient use of resources and
\na more accountable administration; and 3) improved performance in
\nthe articulation of the public interest, with a new standard of
\nmeasurement for public services.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian recovery is inexorably linked to the level of
\npublic service reform. A new, democratic public service would be
\nan important force to overhaul the inner workings of the
\ngovernment toward accountability, an outward-looking approach and
\nservice-oriented platform. On the contrary, a failure by public
\nservices to respond to the rapid changes in governance will bring
\nabout further disintegration of the country.<\/p>",
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