Deal struck on civil servants

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)