Golkar won't propose on next cabinet lineup

Golkar won't propose on next cabinet lineup

JAKARTA (JP): The dominant political organization, Golkar,
fresh from its major haul in the recent general election, will
not propose its cadres for ministerial posts in the next cabinet
to the elected president, party chairman Harmoko said yesterday.

Harmoko said Golkar would instead comply with the Constitution
that leaves the choice of ministers to the president.

"Whoever the next president is, we will trust him or her in
the selection of cabinet ministers. Why should we groom our own
ministerial candidates?" Harmoko said.

"We won't even try to persuade the president on the
composition of the next cabinet. We have to respect the
president's right to choose his or her assistants," he said.

The president for the 1998/2003 period will be elected during
a general session of the 1,000-strong People's Consultative
Assembly next March. The assembly is made up of 500 House of
Representatives members and another 500 representatives of
various groups, provinces and professions.

Harmoko led Golkar to a record 74 percent of votes in the May
29 election, Golkar's sixth consecutive win in election history
under the New Order.

Many Golkar cadres have been given ministerial jobs, including
Harmoko who has been serving as a cabinet minister since 1983.

He held the minister of information post until May when
President Soeharto promoted him to state minister of special
assignments.

Traditionally, all cabinet ministers are members of the Golkar
board of patrons. Soeharto chairs the influential board and it
looks certain that his tenure will be extended.

But Harmoko said yesterday Golkar would not take advantage of
the influential link to bid for ministerial posts.

He said Golkar would also give the choice of vice president to
the elected president.

Also yesterday, Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M.
decided to step in to help a rift at the Irian Jaya Legislative
Council, which escalated Wednesday with Golkar threatening to
dismiss legislators who failed to vote for their own faction's
candidate in the council speaker election last month.

Recall

"Golkar's central board of executives should not deal out such
punitive measures to their councilors," Yogie said.

Chief of Golkar's Irian Jaya chapter, Bima, said Wednesday he
would consult with the party's central board about the
possibility of dismissing the "deserting" councilors.

Golkar's candidate, Bima, lost to his Armed Forces
counterpart, Col. Robert Sitorus, despite the faction's majority
of seats in the council.

A Golkar executive, Amir Santoso, said the party's central
board, as well as those of other political parties, should punish
members who are found guilty of violating organizational rules.

"The central board will study the Irian Jaya branch's
suggestion first. We may reject the idea to dismiss the
legislators, however," said Amir, who heads Golkar's research and
development affairs.

He played down the threat, saying that Bima was only
reprimanding legislators who voted against their faction's
candidate.

"It serves as a lesson to party cadres that they have to
comply with organizational discipline and all consensus reached
within the party," legislator Amir said.

He said the punishment would not play havoc to the
democratization process of the country, saying that democracy and
allegiance were two different things.

"Democracy occurs during decision-making, in which everybody
is allowed to trade arguments. But once a decision is made, all
party members have no reason to refute it," Amir said. (imn/amd)