The long and painful process of reforming a government<\/p>\n
By Owen Podger<\/p>\n
This is the second of two articles on the obstacles blocking
\nattempts to reform the government.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Why has the government delayed implementing
\nfunctional positions (jabatan fungsional)? The reason given by
\nthe Ministry of Finance is that the country cannot afford it.
\nBut how can the country continue with a system that so blatantly
\nprevents proper human resource management?<\/p>\n
Civil service administration in Indonesia has had two
\ncharacteristics tied directly to the New Order's culture of
\ncorruption, collusion and nepotism, known by the Indonesian
\nacronym KKN. The first is the gross underpayment of both the
\ncivil and defense service. In the case of defense, military
\nbusiness activities have been justified because they help to
\nsupplement meager military pay. Corruption flourishes under this
\narrangement, perfected in Central Java under the Old Order by
\nnone other than Soeharto.<\/p>\n
In the case of the civil service, the separation of
\ndevelopment budgets from routine budgets, and separation of
\nproject structures from organization structures, has created \"wet
\nand dry\" offices. A highly developed system of collusion and
\nbudget diversion has been given cultural legitimacy because just
\nsome of it has been used to top up deliberately low pay. One
\nsuspects the motive for not increasing wages has been to create
\nthe allegiances outside the formal and professional structures,
\nupon which the corruption depends.<\/p>\n
The second characteristic stems out of those allegiances. It
\nis the system of patronage where promotion depends on allegiances
\nand returns rather than on competence. The examination system for
\ngovernment appointments has long been corrupted, and opposition
\nto it has led to loss of life in at least two provinces in recent
\nmonths. Patronage from Soeharto is the rumored motive for the
\nmurder of reporter Udin in Yogyakarta. The current government
\nespouses reform, but rumors still abound of massive payments made
\nfor senior posts, even since May 1998.<\/p>\n
How is such a system to be replaced by a competence-based work
\nculture?<\/p>\n
Implementation of functional positions, with pay based on
\nprofessional qualifications, is an essential start. The current
\nsubversive reward system must be abandoned. Professional
\nassociations (such as a local government planners' association)
\nand service unit associations (such as a solid waste management
\nassociation) need to be established, and financed, to urgently
\ndevelop professionalism within each profession and each area of
\ncommunity service.<\/p>\n
Once a basis for collective professionalism has been
\ndeveloped, a process is needed to pull organizations and civil
\nservants towards effective behavior, like the wire in
\northodontics. Civil service managers need the power to organize.
\nMost government organization are created by presidential decree,
\nand the \"organization structure\" set by ministerial decree.<\/p>\n
These decrees stipulate the tasks and functions of
\norganizations, usually to the fifth level of hierarchy. Decrees
\ngo through a rather slow and hazardous process of approval, and
\nhence are very difficult to change. Balance and symmetry between
\ndivisions within organizations are more important than
\neffectiveness, or the demands for competencies, or volume of work
\nto be done.<\/p>\n
Effectiveness cannot be considered in the current system of
\norganization, as organizations are defined before the programs
\nthat they have to carry out.<\/p>\n
Throughout government, programs are divided into routine and
\ndevelopment, with separate, complex processes of approval.
\nManagers are able to plan programs, but are unable to change
\ntheir organization to carry them out effectively.<\/p>\n
In fact, a total new organization structure is created to
\nmanage development programs, including project managers and
\nproject treasurers approved by the president himself, (or the
\ngovernor for local government projects). By creating two
\nmanagement structures, one for routine and one for projects,
\nmanagement is deliberately weakened, and responsibility spread.
\nIn the newspeak of the New Order, this reduced opportunities for
\ncorruption. The reality is that nobody is held accountable, for
\neffectiveness or for corruption. And the patronage system
\nthrives.<\/p>\n
To respond to this complexity, managers who try to be
\neffective, or corrupt, must play \"tricks\". Unable to make
\norganizational decisions, the dominant management style becomes
\nmanipulation. There are in fact very few true managers in the
\nIndonesia civil service, and a great many manipulators. As very
\nmany senior government personnel have studied management
\noverseas, and have failed to demand the system change, it is
\nreasonable to conclude that New Order policy has been to deprive
\nmanagers of the power to organize, in order to foster this
\nculture of patronage.<\/p>\n
To change this culture, organization must be returned as a
\ntool rather than a constraint of management. Leadership should,
\nof course, continue to establish the policies and programs. It
\nshould not, however, separate the planning process of development
\nprograms, routine programs and organization. Once all programs
\nhave been identified, and the financial, economic and
\ninstitutional feasibility verified, managers must be free to
\norganize, and required to organized, and accountable for
\norganization.<\/p>\n
Organization must empower government to execute its works
\nprograms, changing when the work programs change.<\/p>\n
And what is the purpose of government programs? The purpose
\nof teeth is to bite and the chew. The purpose of government is
\nto regulate and serve the public. In its more than 30 years, the
\nNew Order and its series of Development Cabinets frequently lost
\ntrack of its purpose. The number of students attending school
\nbecame more important than learning, certificates became more
\nvaluable than education, the capacity of water supply more
\nimportant than satisfying the demand for clean water, length of
\nroads built more important than the sustainability of access to
\nmarkets and services.<\/p>\n
Worse still, the government frequently reversed the direction
\nof service. The community was expected to serve development, and
\nserve the government. This feudal reversal of the principle of
\ndemocracy and good government can be witnessed at all levels of
\ngovernment, from the management of motorcades, to the treatment
\nof customers paying for services, and even the treatment of out-
\npatients in many public hospitals who are controlled rather than
\nserved. Without transparent links to the community and closeness
\nto the customers, the government has no trustworthy basis to
\nlearn their needs and aspirations.<\/p>\n
While the culture requires workers to tell the boss what he
\nwants to hear, and customers never complain, government leaders
\ncan never believe what they are told by staff, customers, or the
\npopulace. There is no feedback. The leaders deceive the public,
\nand the public deceives the leaders.<\/p>\n
In the simile of government reform being like orthodontics,
\nthere may still be some teeth that need to be pulled, and it is
\nup to the political processed to determine that. It seems there
\nis much law reform needed before Indonesia becomes negara hukum,
\na nation based on the rule of law.<\/p>\n
Professionalism and power to organize in government are needed
\nto enable the government to move toward effectiveness. Yet the
\nmost painful aspect of reform will be for government, whoever the
\ngovernment may be, to learn to listen to the community, and for
\nthe community to learn to state its concerns. The crux of the
\ncultural change that is needed is democracy.<\/p>\n
The writer is a former adviser to the National Development
\nPlanning Board (Bappenas) on urban management and urban
\ndevelopment policy.<\/p>",
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