'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)