'Criteria' for getting a place in new Cabinet
'Criteria' for getting a place in new Cabinet
JAKARTA (JP): Male, in his 50s, indigenous Malay either from
East or West Java, has a doctorate degree from the United States
and a bachelor degree from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta,
and is a scholar or consultant.
This is the typical member of President Abdurrahman's new
Cabinet which was announced on Wednesday.
The 26 members of the Cabinet have been picked through a
process of political horse-trading between the President and
leaders of major political parties, but an assessment of their
backgrounds throws some interesting light on the selections. Bear
in mind, however, that these findings do not necessarily reflect
the criteria used in the selection process since political
decisions, rather than any other criteria, ruled at the end of
the day.
* Gender gap: There are only two women in the Cabinet. Erna
Witular and Khofifah Indar Parawansa.
* Generation gap: Eleven of the Cabinet members are in their
50s and nine are in their 40s. Two are in their 30s with Khofifah
as the youngest at 35, followed by Nurmahmudi Ismail, 38. Four
are in their 60s and the oldest of the pack is Tolchah Hasan who
is 64.
* Alumni clubs: If the Cabinet is a reflection of the
country's centers of excellence, rather than the bias of the
President and the political leaders, then the Bandung Institute
of Technology rules with six alumni: Rizal Ramli, Purnomo
Yusgiantoro, Erna Witular, Alhilal Hamdi, Sarwono Kusumaatmadja
and Cacuk Sudarijanto.
Gadjah Mada University is second with four graduates in the
new line-up: Mahfud M.D., Yahya Muhaimin, Muhammad Hikam and
Manuel Kaisiepo. The National Military Academy also has four:
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Agum Gumelar, Luhut Panjaitan and
Surjadi Sudirdja. The Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB) is
next with three: Prijadi Praptosuhardjo, Bungaran Saragih and
Nurmahmudi Ismail. The University of Indonesia has only two:
Yusril Izha Mahendra and Ahmad Sujudi. The others are graduates
of the Hidayatullah Islamic Institute in Jakarta (Zarkasih Nur),
Brawijaya University in Malang, East Java (Tolchah Hasan),
Airlangga University in Surabaya, East Java (Khofifah Indar
Parawansa) and the Leuven Catholic University in Belgium.
Academic credentials: Only one minister is an academic
professor -- Bungaran Saragih (agriculture from IPB). Eleven have
doctorate degrees, mostly from abroad, in particular from the
United States: Rizal Ramli (Boston), Purnomo Yusgiantoro
(Colorado), Bungaran Saragih (North Carolina), Yusril Ihza
Mahendra (Malaysia), Mahfud M.D. (Yogyakarta), Alwi Shihab
(Cairo), Yahya Muhaimin (Massachusetts), Muh. Hikam (Hawaii),
Sonny Keraf (Belgium), Ryaas Rasyid (Hawaii) and Nurmahmudi
Ismail (Texas).
Ethnicity and subethnicity: President Abdurrahman Wahid broke
ground in October when he named Kwik Kian Gie to become the first
minister from the ethnic Chinese group. There is not a single
Chinese member in the new lineup. In terms of subethnic groups,
the East Javanese rule with seven ministers: Mahfud M.D., Tolchah
Hasan, Ahmad Sujudi, Muhammad Hikam, Khofifah Indar Parawansa,
Cacuk Sudarijanto and Nurmahmudi Ismail. Central Java comes next
with five: Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Prijadi Praptosuhardjo,
Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Alhilal Hamdi and Yahya Muhaimin. West Java
has four: Agum Gumelar, Zarkasih Nur, Surjadi Sudirdja and
Sarwono Kusumaatmadja. South Sulawesi has three: Erna Witular,
Alwi Shihab and Ryaas Rasyid. North Sumatra has two: Luhut
Panjaitan and Bungaran Saragih. The others are West Sumatra
(Rizal Ramli), South Sumatra (Yusril Izha Mahendra), Bali (I Gde
Ardika), East Nusa Tenggara (Sonny Keraf) and Irian Jaya (Manuel
Kaisiepo).
Professional training: 10 of the ministers were drawn from
academic circles and were either lecturers or researchers. Four
were consultants and another four were from the military. Three
were bureaucrats and one was from a non-governmental
organization. There was also a journalist and one from the
banking circle. Five were active politicians. (emb)