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)