Golkar officials against cabinet quotas

Golkar officials against cabinet quotas

JAKARTA (JP): Two Golkar officials rejected yesterday a
proposal that certain groups could ask for seats in the next
cabinet.

Golkar legislators in the People's Consultative Assembly
(MPR), Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana and Mien Sugandhi, said it would
be unethical for people to seek ministerial posts in the
1998/2003 cabinet.

"No, they cannot ask for seats in the cabinet," Hardiyanti,
who is better known as Mbak Tutut, told reporters.

If that were allowed, people would start demanding and
competing for seats in the cabinet, she pointed.

"I think we should follow the Constitution and leave the
decision to the elected president," said the eldest daughter of
President Soeharto.

She was responding to a suggestion by the outgoing State
Minister of Environment, Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, who said Tuesday
that it would be acceptable if certain groups asked for seats in
the cabinet.

"Such an aspiration (to request seats in the cabinet) is
natural," Sarwono said. "So, it should be okay if there is a
person asking for a seat in the cabinet."

He said that it would also be okay if someone suggested names
to be included in the next cabinet.

"The most important thing is that they (the ministers) are
able to have a positive impact on the recovery of the Indonesian
economy and the people's trust in the government and the system,"
he argued.

Shame

Mien Sugandhi, the outgoing state minister of women's roles,
also said she disagreed with the idea of people requesting
cabinet seats.

"People should feel ashamed if they ask for positions in the
cabinet," Mien, who now chairs MKGR, one of several organizations
which merged into Golkar in 1964, said.

"We (MKGR cadres) have never asked for seats in the cabinet,"
she said, "Yet, we'll never reject them if they are offered."

Hardiyanti also shrugged off questions when asked what
criteria would be suitable for cabinet ministers. She retorted
that people should not worry about the mechanism as
constitutionally it was the prerogative of the elected president.

"Let the elected president think, select and decide on the
cabinet composition," she said.

Mien concurred with her Golkar colleague saying it was the
prerogative of the president to decide on the cabinet's
composition.

She said that she would not be disappointed if she or other
MKGR members were not included in the 1998/2003 cabinet.

"No, we will not be disappointed because serving doesn't mean
one has to be in the cabinet," she said. "We can serve the nation
in other ways."

She insisted she never lobbied President Soeharto for her
position in the cabinet.

"It's unethical for me to request a ministerial post from the
president," Mien remarked.

The deputy chairman of the Association of Indonesian Moslem
Intellectuals (ICMI) Achmad Tirtosudiro denied allegations that
its chairman B.J. Habibie, if elected vice president, would bring
members of the association into the cabinet.

"We (ICMI) have never asked for positions in the cabinet," he
said. (imn/byg)