Akbar not to resign cabinet post

Akbar not to resign cabinet post

JAKARTA (JP): Rather than relinquish his post as
minister/state secretary, Golkar's newly elected chairman Akbar
Tandjung said he had asked for an assistant to ease his workload
as a Cabinet minister.

"I have proposed the appointment of a state secretary deputy
to coordinate all state secretariat internal affairs matters of
which I am no longer much involved in on a daily basis anyway,"
Akbar told journalists after accompanying President B.J. Habibie
during the celebration of the 51st anniversary of the country's
cooperatives.

Akbar said the new assistant would not hold a ministerial rank
but would just be a deputy for the State Secretariat.

He refused to disclose whom he would prefer as a deputy or
when the new post would begin.

Akbar pointed out that in the past the now defunct position of
minister/cabinet secretary also had a deputy.

Habibie retained Bambang Kesowo as deputy cabinet secretary
even though the post of cabinet secretary has been abolished.

When asked why he did not resign as minister to avoid possible
conflicts of interests in the future, Akbar replied: "A minister
is a political position, and there is no prohibition to hold
another political post".

Former minister/state secretary Sudharmono and former minister
of information Harmoko both retained their posts while they were
Golkar chairmen.

Observers and even some Golkar members have called for Akbar
to cede his Cabinet post to show that Golkar is an independent
entity from the government and can truly fulfill a role as a
check on the executive branch. (prb)