Clarification on civil servants

From Merdeka

Waskito Reksosoedirdjo, secretary general of the Indonesian civil servants corps (KORPRI), wanted to "clarify" on Sept. 23 a statement by the corps' chairman Suryana Subrata who had said that "Corps members are free to vote for PPP, Golkar or PDI in the general election. The corps' loyalty is to the government and not to Golkar."

Waskito's clarification is completely opposed to his chairman's statement. Can both sides be right? Evidently not. I conclude that there are two vastly different ways of thinking in the corps which is actually the heartbeat of the state's bureaucracy.

I would like to make the following comments on Waskito's statement:

1. Is his authority so extraordinary that the secretary general is in a position to dismiss a civil servant if the latter does not channel his political aspirations through Golkar? What law or regulation gives the secretary general the authority?

2. The corps enjoys the freedom to organize and to make internal regulations for its members. So, although Law No.3/1995 warrants free channeling of political aspirations to civil servants, the corps can deviate from it. If each organization is authorized like the corps to bend the law, one can imagine what will become of this Pancasila state.

3. Is the corps' secretary general convinced that a dismissed civil servant will also lose at the State Administrative Court?

I would like to ask why the secretary general did not at the same time request the government to revoke Law No.3/1995 and similar laws, and to replace them by other laws in compliance with the decisions by the corps' fourth national conference in order to avoid confusion and violation of the law?

MINARNO

Tanjung Pinang