'Civil servants should give up voting rights'

'Civil servants should give up voting rights'

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's six million civil servants should
give up their right to vote in order to remain politically
neutral, former home affairs minister Rudini said yesterday.

The civil service corps (Korpri) is not a mass organization,
but the bureaucracy. It organizes elections, Rudini pointed out.

"May be it would be best if Korpri members do not join Golkar
or the two other political parties," the retired Army general
told The Jakarta Post. "Like members of the Armed Forces, Korpri
members should give up their voting rights. This is so that they
stay neutral and avoid the possibility of a conflict of interest
during elections."

The political alliance of civil servants has been heatedly
debated over the past week. Even though the law recognizes civil
servants' freedom to choose any political party, Korpri insists
its members vote for the ruling political organization Golkar.

Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M., Rudini's immediate
successor, went as far as to propose that Korpri members who did
not vote for Golkar resign.

Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono said that government
regulations, that guarantee public servants freedom to vote,
reign supreme over Korpri's statutes that compel members to vote
for Golkar.

Rudini recalled that during his term as home minister between
1988 and 1993, a post that made him the chief supervisor of all
political organizations, he received complaints from the leaders
of the minority political parties about the behavior of the
bureaucracy.

They complained that very often government officials did not
draw a line between their role as election organizers and voters,
Rudini said.

The United Development Party and the Indonesian Democratic
Party, the two minority parties that compete with Golkar, said
Korpri's support gives Golkar an unfair advantage.

Rudini did not say if Korpri should be allocated seats in the
House of Representatives in return for giving up their right to
vote.

Armed Forces members cannot vote under the current political
system but automatically get 100 of the House's 400 seats. A
recent law will reduce the seat allocation to 75 after the 1997
election.

Rudini argued that, in accordance with the civil servants'
oath of office, the loyalty of government workers should first
and foremost be to the elected government.

However, he said he fully understood Korpri leaders'
insistence that members vote for Golkar because the two
organizations share the same ideals and objectives.

Golkar chairman Harmoko said on Thursday that six million of
the Golkar's 35 million card-holding members are from Korpri.

"That's practical politics," Rudini said commenting on the
ability of Golkar to recruit Korpri members. "Don't blame it on
Golkar." (aks)