Deal struck on civil servants

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives and the government struck an eleventh hour agreement on Tuesday over the question of civil servants' political rights, as pressures mounted to finalize the new legislation for the June general election.

After high-level political lobbying to break up the jam in the deliberation of the election laws, the four factions agreed that the 4.1 million government workers would no longer be permitted to join or become executives of political parties.

Those who insist on pursuing their political careers must seek permission from their immediate superiors, and take a leave of absence -- receiving "waiting money" -- for up to one year, according to a statement jointly signed by representatives of the faction leaders and the government.

A few hours later, President B.J. Habibie signed a decree to that effect, Minister/State Secretary Akbar Tandjung said. He said details of the decree would be announced on Wednesday.

The agreement stated that membership of civil servants in Golkar or other political parties would "automatically" be negated following the issuance of the decree, but added that they would have three months to make up their minds on whether to become party members or keep their official jobs.

Civil servants who failed to comply with the ruling would be discharged.

Signing the agreement were Abu Hasan Sazili, who chaired the House's special committee deliberating the bill on the general election, and representatives of the four factions -- Achmad Rustandi (Armed Forces), Andi Mattalatta (Golkar), Zarkasih Nur (United Development Party or PPP) and Wiyanjono (Indonesian Democratic Party or PDI). Signing for the government was Ministry of Home Affairs' Secretary-General Feisal Tamin.

The issue of civil servants' political rights was one of the few outstanding issues as the House struggled to finalize the political bills by Thursday's deadline.

Earlier on Tuesday, the special committee agreed that the House will be made up of 500 members, and the People's Consultative Assembly, which will elect the president in November, will consist of the 500 House members, 135 regional representatives, and 65 representatives of organizations.

Two still unresolved major issues were the number of House seats to be allocated to the Armed Forces, and whether the House representatives were to be elected directly at the regency level, or through a proportional representative system at the provincial level.

Tuesday's agreement is widely seen as a major blow for Golkar. The dominant faction in the House had earlier insisted that civil servants should be allowed to become members or executives of any political party without relinquishing their official posts.

Golkar stands to lose the most from the deal as it had relied on civil servants to mobilize support for the party during the elections. Under the old regulation, all civil servants automatically became Golkar members.

The PPP had threatened not to endorse the election bill if Golkar forced the issue to a vote, and only agreed to sign the deal on Tuesday after receiving assurances that Habibie would sign the decree declaring the civil servants' neutrality.

The PPP has been widely supported by many of the new political parties which have emerged in the last eight months, these parties are not represented in the House but will contend in the June polls.

PPP Chairman Hamzah Haz -- who is Habibie's state minister of investment -- said he was "satisfied" with the agreement.

Secretary-general of the National Mandate Party (PAN) Faisal Basri -- one of the new parties hoping to contest the June election -- lauded it as "99 percent" satisfactory.

Faisal however expressed concern that in ensuring victory on this aspect of the bill, the PPP may have compromised on another issue in the deliberation: the number of House seats to be allocated to the Armed Forces.

Tarto Sudiro, a deputy secretary-general of PDI Perjuangan under Megawati Soekarnoputri, said he "smelt a dead rat", describing the agreement as merely semantics.

"Three months? They could do anything in three months," Tarto told The Jakarta Post.

Director of the Institute for Policy and Community Development Studies (IPCOS) Sutradara Ginting said three months were enough for bureaucrats to abuse public facilities for the interests of their own party.

"This a trick," said Ginting, who is deputy chairman of the Justice and Unity Party (PKP), which consists mainly of Golkar dissenters.

Chairman of the Muslim Community Party (PUI) Deliar Noer slammed the deal as "full of loopholes".

"What if their superiors do not agree on their joining political parties just because they don't like these certain parties?" Deliar asked.

Chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) Bambang Widjojanto gave the agreement a cold shoulder.

The requirement for permission from superiors would create another "filter" for civil servants joining political parties, he said.

Bambang said the agreement would not prevent bureaucrats from abusing state facilities the way they had done for Golkar.

"It will not stop a regent from helping Golkar in the polls ... What is the punishment?" he asked. (01/29/prb/aan)