Golkar expected to soften stance on civil servants

Golkar expected to soften stance on civil servants

JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie and Minister of Home
Affairs Syarwan Hamid are calling on Golkar to soften its stance
on the political role of the country's 4.1 million public
servants.

Syarwan said after a meeting with Habibie at Merdeka Palace
here on Monday that the President was optimistic the stalemate
over the issue could be resolved peacefully by the House of
Representatives.

"He (Habibie) is confident the issue can be solved," he said.

The subtle pressure from the President follows weeks of
criticism of Golkar's insistence that barring public servants
from joining political parties was tantamount to a violation of
their rights.

Golkar's opponents in the House of Representatives, led by the
United Development Party (PPP), have accused the dominant
political grouping of using the issue of human rights to ensure
that civil servants would continue to be obliged to vote for
Golkar, as was the case over the past three decades.

In House deliberations on the political parties bill, Golkar
has said that barring civil servants from political parties was
also a violation of International Labor Organization (ILO)
Convention No. 87 on the freedom of association.

PPP, the Armed Forces and the Indonesian Democratic Party
argued for the bureaucracy's neutrality, claiming that the civil
servants' presence in politics would adversely affect their
service to the public.

Some new political parties, observers and social organizations
have also come out in support of the neutrality of civil
servants.

Syarwan reminded Golkar on Monday that if the polemic
continued the House would not be able to finish deliberations on
the bill by the Jan. 28 deadline, placing the planned June 7
general election in jeopardy.

"Both the government and the House are aware of this," he
said.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Muslim Labor Union (Sarbumusi) also
criticized Golkar for using the ILO convention to justify its
stance that civil servants should be allowed to participate in
politics.

The organization said the convention had nothing to do with
the political rights of civil servants.

"Golkar should not use human rights and the ILO convention as
a pretext for the participation of civil servants in politics
because the ILO convention has nothing to do with the issue,"
said the deputy chairman of the organization, Abdy Kusumanegara,
on Monday.

"We don't understand why Golkar is suddenly portraying itself
as a fighter for human rights after abusing and manipulating
human rights and the ILO convention to maintain the status quo
for the past 32 years," he said.

Golkar deputy chairman Marzuki Darusman and former Golkar
legislator Bomer Pasaribu argued last week that civil servants
should be allowed to play a role in politics in accordance with
international laws on human rights and the ILO convention.

Abdy called on Golkar not to cheat the nation, warning that it
would only draw negative reactions from the people.

"The people won't be fooled any longer. Golkar should be open
to reform and democracy now," he said. (rms/prb)