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)