Golkar leaves cabinet lineup to president

Golkar leaves cabinet lineup to president

JAKARTA (JP): Ruling political organization Golkar will let
the elected president decide on members of the next cabinet,
Golkar chairman Harmoko said yesterday.

Harmoko suggested, however, that consultation on the
selections could be conducted "through the internal mechanism of
Golkar".

"Our stance is we will trust the recipient of the People's
Consultative Assembly' mandate (the president) to pick his or her
choice of aides. But it's possible to talk about it internally,"
Harmoko said after a plenary session at the House of
Representatives.

All five factions in the Assembly are expected to renominate
incumbent Soeharto, who also chairs Golkar's powerful board of
patrons, in the presidential election on March 10.

Harmoko said he had yet to meet Soeharto, 76, to discuss the
cabinet lineup issue in the latter's capacity as the patrons'
board chairman.

"We are set for such a discussion, but the situation has not
developed toward that direction so far," said Harmoko, who is
also speaker of the House and Assembly.

Harmoko said Golkar would never interfere in the president's
prerogative to form a cabinet.

"We will comply with the constitutional and democratic
mechanism which allows a president to name his or her own best
choices," he said.

Most of Soeharto's selections in previous cabinets were Golkar
members. This was despite pleas from the minority Indonesian
Democratic Party (PDI) and the United Development Party (PPP)
that they be included.

On Sunday, PPP executives said they had drawn up a list of
people they considered deserving of ministerial posts. Chairman
Ismail Hasan Metareum declined to reveal the names, saying he
would present them to Soeharto first.

Ismail said the Moslem-based party was merely trying to raise
ideas, rather than put pressure on Soeharto. "We won't feel
disappointed if our contribution is rejected," Ismail said.

An Assembly legislator representing the Armed Forces (ABRI),
Lt. Gen. Hari Sabarno, shared Harmoko's view yesterday, saying
ABRI would let the elected president appoint his or her
assistants.

Hari agreed in principle that the next cabinet could include
members of the two minority parties.

"If it happens, it will serve as evidence that political
parties succeed in grooming statesmen, not just politicians,"
Hari said.

But he was skeptical of the likelihood of Soeharto accepting
the minority parties' demands for representation.

"He (Soeharto) will look at the records of those to be
selected. How can he name someone found discrediting the
government during the election rallies?" Hari said.

Separately, a staff member in the political and security
affairs section at the office of the State Minister of Research
and Technology, Maj. Gen. (ret) Z.A. Maulani, said the next
cabinet would need professionals to help the country extricate
itself from the protracted monetary crisis.

"I don't want to insist, but I hope the next cabinet will
recruit only competent people who adhere to moral values, have
strong leadership and can work in a team," he said.

He dismissed speculation that State Minister for Research and
Technology B.J. Habibie, whose election as Soeharto's vice
president looks certain, would wield a major role in the drawing
up of the cabinet.

"I'm not sure, because it seems to me that President Soeharto
has always sought input from various figures. His (Soeharto's)
choices are the same as the people's," Maulani said after the
anniversary celebration of the Center for Information and
Development Studies (CIDES). (amd)