Civil servants continue as centerpiece of next polls

JAKARTA (JP): Needless to say, Golkar's never-say-die efforts to keep the civil servants corps under its full control during the deliberation of a new elections bill now underway mirrors its great dependence on the government workers.

In each of the last six elections, civil servants contributed much to Golkar's lion's share of votes and its successful bid to maintain a single majority in the House of Representatives.

Having no less than five millions members, the civil servants corps has helped Golkar grab between 60 percent and 70 percent of the vote share. The political group gained a record 74 percent of votes in the last elections, in 1997.

Mobilization of civil servants has been subjected to a constant outcry by rival parties ever since it was initiated prior to the 1971 polls. But it fell on deaf ears, although the practice conspicuously led to a vast range of violations.

The controversy lies not only with the fact that civil servants have become Golkar's political tool, but the abuse of power which restricts the civil servants to a no-choice situation.

It has been an open secret that new civil servant recruits are obliged to pledge their allegiance to Golkar, although the 1974 Basic Law of Public Administration states that government employees' political rights are guaranteed in line with the 1945 Constitution.

J. Kristiadi of the Center for Strategic and International Studies criticizes, "The so-called monoloyalty of the bureaucracy -- which is supposed to execute policies -- to Golkar, which as a political group is involved in policymaking, bears a conflict of interests."

The fact goes that way. It's difficult to differentiate a government official as part of the bureaucracy from his or her position as a Golkar cadre. It was common in the past that ministers inserted a meeting with Golkar cadres in the agenda of their field tours.

Golkar has repeatedly argued that monoloyalty is vital to maintain unity among civil servants, a lesson it learned from the Old Order when the corps incorporated people who belonged to various political parties and ideologies.

Golkar functionary Rully Chairul Azwar said that such a political uniformity would not only ensure continuity of development programs, but would leave the bureaucracy immune to political conflicts that might cost its existence as a public service institution.

"It's normal that for those sakes, a political party which wins an election wants its men to fill all posts in the bureaucracy," he said a few months after Golkar cruised unchallenged to its sixth straight win in the 1997 polls.

"Every political party has the right to do the same thing if it emerges from the elections the winner," he added.

Golkar's insistence to maintain the civil servants' support also lies with historical ties, which accounted for its rise to power.

The political organization was founded by the military and occupational groups which encompassed various professions in 1964 to challenge the fast growing Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

An ill-fated coup blamed on the PKI in 1965 marked the beginning of a development-oriented regime under Army general Soeharto largely called the New Order.

To help Golkar win the first elections in the new era, rescheduled for 1971, the military-dominated government sought civil servants' support. A presidential decree issued prior to the polls established the civil servants corps (Korpri) whose members were obliged to affiliate with Golkar.

Since then, the bureaucracy has become one of three major pillars of Golkar, other than the Armed Forces and the rest of occupational groups.

And to guarantee it a long-time political upper hand, Golkar named president Soeharto, who took office in 1967, to chair its powerful board of patrons.

In 1985, the government adopted a floating mass policy which bars political organizations from campaigning below the regency level.

The policy, instead, favors Golkar very much due to the fact that all heads of villages belong to the civil servants corps and, thus, are Golkar members.

In each election, a civil servant, as well as other Golkar cadres, carried out a duty called dasa karya (10 missions), which obliged him or her to recruit nine other voters. They can be immediate family members, other relatives or neighbors.

"Canvassing can take place in bed, in the kitchen or at the well," Rully said, referring to methods of recruiting voters from among one's own family and neighborhood.

According to Korpri's chairman Feisal Tamin, from civil servants and their families alone, Golkar enjoyed an estimate 30 million of voters.

Such a figure will definitely be precious, particularly because the next elections are expected to see dozens of political parties contesting and a single majority become a dream of the past. (amd)