Abuse of prerogative

The President has the prerogative right to appoint and dismiss members of his cabinet. In the political sense such a right can be easily abused. Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly Amien Rais reminded us the other day that the latest dismissal of two ministers in charge of economic affairs, by President Abdurrahman Wahid, could well be seen as abuse of this prerogative right. The replacement of one of them by somebody from the President's own party, Amien Rais added, is abhorrent in the reform era.

House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung saw in the latest cabinet reshuffle and the filling of vacancies by people outside the original parties that won the general election as a violation of the political ethics and coalition agreement at the outset of the cabinet formation.

Furthermore, President Abdurrahman Wahid did not find it necessary to consult the leaders of the political parties concerned before taking the action.

The media reported that the reason for the firing of the ministers was their failure to cooperate with other ministers and that this was a weak argument for their dismissal. It should have been the responsibility of the captain of the cabinet to patch up dissenting views and proceed with the agreed program of the entire administration.

The general public was displeased by the fact that the track record and experiences of the new ministers do not promise a better performance. The slide of the rupiah to Rp 8,000 against the U.S. dollar immediately after the installation ceremony was seen by many as a bad omen.

President Abdurrahman Wahid is now showing more of his authoritarian character instead of the spirit of an exemplary democratic leader. When he summoned one of the ministers (Laksamana Sukardi) and told him not to ask for an explanation of the dismissal, he was acting rather like a despot (absolute ruler). Ministers are admittedly the President's assistants (Indonesian: pembantu), but they are not "pembantu" or servants in the real sense of the word. This lack of political leniency and democratic tolerance may cause him real problems sooner or later.

GANDHI SUKARDI

Jakarta