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)