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)