Civil servants and the election

Civil servants and the election

From Media Indonesia

Will this year's general election result be as expected? It
seems that this year's election will not be different from the
previous elections held within the New Order era. I wonder
whether the election will follow the principles of luber (direct,
public, free and secret) and jurdil (honest and fair).

Civil servants belong to the people. Consequently, civil
servants should be neutral. But in reality, civil servants
grouped under the Indonesian Civil Servants Corps (KORPRI) are
leaning heavily towards Golkar. Loyalty is to the government and
not any other party.

In the United States, a two-party system means election
results fluctuate. This means the Republican party may win one
election and the Democratic Party may be victorious at the next.
But supposing the Republican party wins the election, should the
whole civil service belong to that party? And if the country was
ruled by the Democratic party, should civil servants be made to
quit their jobs and be replaced by democrats?

It is only natural that every contestant wants to win the
election. But in my opinion Golkar's wish to attain a single
majority in the upcoming election is overenthusiastic.

The three election contestants belong to one nation. However,
in the upcoming general election, every citizen has the right to
vote for the best party. People can vote for any party, because
each party is worthy. But one should not be encouraged to vote
for a certain party. Let people have a choice.

ENDRA SYUARNA

Bekasi, West Java