Bureaucrats routine snag in research

Bureaucrats routine snag in research

SEMARANG, Central (JP): Scientific research on the Indonesian electoral system has historically been complicated by byzantine bureaucratic procedures and tight-lipped bureaucrats, an academic confided yesterday.

Susilo Utomo, a political lecturer at Diponegoro University, pointed out that academics wanting to do research in the area are usually deterred by the arduous process of obtaining the necessary official license for the project.

"Moreover, many government officials refuse to give the information that the scholar needs for his research," Susilo told The Jakarta Post.

Bureaucrats, he said, are reluctant or overly cautious in sharing their opinions on political matters for reasons unclear to most.

Such an attitude clearly does not help researchers and the validity and objectiveness of their information becomes questionable, he added.

Susilo was commenting on President Soeharto's recent order that the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) research ways to improve the existing electoral system.

LIPI, an institute that directly answers to the President, has set up a special team chaired by Mochtar Pabottingi to begin the project.

Susilo refused to speculate if bureaucrats would be more generous about furnishing information to LIPI researchers due to the presidential order.

"I hope that the bureaucratic attitude toward academic research will change in the future," he said. He added that there have been "many" small-scale studies on the electoral system but none on a national scale like LIPI's current undertaking.

Some universities have conducted mock general elections in a local context, which LIPI may use for their national implications.

However, the scope of LIPI's next research project is unknown. "It is unclear if it is also meant to improve the performance of the House of Representatives," Susilo said. (har/pan)