Golkar plans to establish school to improve cadres

JAKARTA (JP): Chairman of the dominant Golkar, Harmoko, said over the weekend that Golkar would establish a school designed to improve the quality of its political cadres.

"The school is meant to increase our political cadres' qualities in anticipating the future challenges of globalization and trade liberalization," Harmoko said while addressing a seminar on Golkar's concept for the 1998/2003 State Policy Guidelines in Medan, North Sumatra, on Friday evening.

The school, to open in July, will run courses on practical political knowledge and skills.

"Rather than just mastering political matters, Golkar cadres should also master subjects on the economy, social affairs and human relations," he said.

Commenting on Harmoko's concept, political observer Arbi Sanit said such a school would be beneficial in educating cadres of political organizations so that they would be ready to practice real politics.

"Equipping cadres with political skills and other practical knowledge is important as such skills cannot be found in formal university classes," Arbi told The Jakarta Post Saturday.

He cited two seasoned politicians, A.A. Baramuli and Umar Tosin, who were products of a similar political school organized by the now-defunct Moslem political party Masyumi in the 1950s.

Baramuli is now a Golkar legislator, while the late Umar Tosin was an activist of the new Masyumi organization.

Arbi told the United Development Party (PPP) and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) to follow Golkar's lead, saying it was better late than never to prepare cadres in such a systematic manner.

"The PPP and the PDI should not be ashamed of following Golkar's move," he said.

A member of Golkar's Research and Development Center, Amir Santoso, said that whether such a school could succeed would depend mainly on its programs.

"The school should prioritize lessons on nationalism. As a nation, we are now experiencing the increasing trend of compartmentalizing between groups in society," he told the Post.

"Indonesia is a huge and heterogeneous nation. All we need is common a perception in viewing state affairs and policies," he said.

Commenting on Harmoko's plan, Amir said the newly appointed state minister of special assignments might have observed the importance of equipping Golkar's legislators with knowledge on crucial subjects, including politics and international relations.

"Many Golkar legislators come from regions and provinces far from Jakarta. They need such knowledge," he said.

Golkar had a landslide victory in the 1997 general election with 74.3 percent of the vote. PPP followed with a distant 22 percent and PDI with 3 percent. (imn)