Decree on bureaucracy's neutrality revised

Decree on bureaucracy's neutrality revised

JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie has kept his word and
revised the decree on the bureaucracy in order to better ensure
its neutrality in politics, Antara said.

The issuance was in response to protests by many, especially
the United Development Party (PPP), that the previous decree was
mere trickery in Golkar's favor and was in violation of a
previous agreement between factions deliberating the political
bills.

Government Regulation No. 5/1999 on "civil servants who join
political parties," issued on Jan. 26, was amended through
Government Regulation No. 12/1999 which Habibie signed on Jan.
29. The new decree contained changes to chapters 7, 8 and 9.

Chief of Civil Servants Adminstration Agency (BAKN) Soenarko
said here on Monday clause 1 of chapter 7, which originally said
that civil servants who joined political parties were "considered
to have relinquished their status" now says their positions in
the bureaucracy would be automatically revoked.

The new decree also stipulates that civil servants now have to
request permission from their superiors in order to relinquish
their state duties, as opposed to only notifying superiors as
stipulated in the previous decree.

Clause 4 of the chapter 7 says civil servants who join
political parties and fail to ask permission within a certain
period of time would be dishonorably discharged.

Chapter 8 says that civil servants who join and become
executives of political parties lose their positions in the
bureaucracy and are entitled to compensation equal to their basic
salary for one year.

The previous decree was blasted by many because it endeavored
to ensure that civil servants who joined political parties would
not only retain their status as public servants -- so they could
return to the bureaucracy at a future date -- but also receive
the compensation for as long as five years in addition to regular
raises and other benefits.

Soenarko said the BAKN has also issued a ruling on the
procedures for the civil servants to join political parties. For
instance, any aspiring politicians would have to send five copies
of requests to relevant officers.

Separately, Minister of Education and Culture Juwono Sudarsono
said in Jakarta on Monday he was not worried about the
possibility of an exodus of teachers from schools and
universities in order to join political parties.

He said he believed most universities had a mechanism where
replacements for posts abandoned by lecturers aspiring to be
politicians or because of retirement could proceed well.

He then asked rectors and deans to register lecturers who
wished to join political parties, and to find replacements.

According to Juwono last year, the number of state-owned
university lecturers throughout Indonesia was 47,000 in 1996.

Following the issuance of the previous decree which stipulates
civil servants' neutrality in politics, a number of high profile
politicians who were also teachers have announced their decision
to quit the bureaucracy.

Among those who may abandon their classrooms were Yusril Ihza
Mahendra, the chairman of the Crescent Star Party who was also
law professor at the University of Indonesia here; Amien Rais,
the chairman of the National Mandate Party, who is a political
science professor at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, and
Harun Al Rasid, a deputy chairman of the Muslim Community Party.

Meanwhile, Ari Kuncoro, the deputy dean of the School of
Economics at the University of Indonesia told The Jakarta Post on
Monday his institution has sent junior lecturers to pursue
graduate degrees abroad so they would be able to replace their
seniors abandoning the classroom for politics. These include
Faisal Basri who is the general secretary of the National Mandate
Party.

Separately, Antara reported from Kendari in Southeast Sulawesi
that hundreds of teachers of elementary schools in remote
villages were expected to leave the classroom in order to join
political parties.

An official at the provincial administration, Amirul Tamin,
said many may think that political parties offered better welfare
than their teaching jobs ever could, especially because of the
government decree on compensation money.

He described how many of the teachers often had to make do
with limited facilities and isolation, plus difficult terrain, in
order to teach. (01/swe)