Government leaders told to quit top party posts
Government leaders told to quit top party posts
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Calls are now mounting for government leaders to quit their
positions in respective political parties in order to concentrate
on their state functions and avoid conflicts of interest.
Azyumardi Azra, rector of the Syarif Hidayatullah State
Institute of Islamic Studies (IAIN), said efforts to address
national problems, including the prolonged economic crisis and
security issues, are being greatly undermined by the decision of
national leaders to retain their posts in their respective
parties.
"Signs of conflicts of interest can clearly be seen now. When
they carry out state tasks such as visiting provinces, they also
meet with members of their political parties. How can they
explain it? There is a problem of accountability," Azyumardi told
The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
Azyumardi was referring to both President Megawati
Soekarnoputri and Vice President Hamzah Haz, who still hold
positions as party leaders.
Megawati is chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), while Hamzah is chairman of the
Muslim-based United Development Party (PPP).
Azyumardi also said that differences in opinion between the
President and Vice President on various issues, including their
stance on the U.S. attacks in Afghanistan, might also be affected
by the interests of their respective political parties.
"If they are really concerned about the problems faced by the
country they should be ready to leave their positions in their
political parties so that they can focus on their duties as
public officials," Azyumardi added.
"In difficult situations, Indonesia needs leaders who are able
to focus their attention solely on national interests, like
economic recovery and resolving security problems," he said.
Separately, Ikrar Nusabakti of the Indonesian Institute of
Sciences (LIPI), said it would be very difficult to create
solidity among national leaders if they still maintained their
positions within their respective political parties.
"They should realize that when they were elected either as a
minister or Vice President or President, they had to remove their
party "hat". They have to widen their scope of service, be smart
and be aware of everything they say," Ikrar said on the sidelines
of a book discussion at the LIPI office.
Ikrar said recent strong statements issued by Hamzah Haz on
the U.S. attacks on Afghanistan had obviously been motivated by
the interests of his party, PPP.
"Hamzah was attempting to gain support from Muslims in
Indonesia by condemning the attacks," Ikrar said.
Ikrar said Hamzah had exploited the Afghan crisis to start his
campaign for the 2004 general election by trying to attract
sympathy from Muslims in the country.
He said Hamzah had often issued statements supporting the
stance of certain hardline groups.
Last month, Hamzah insisted on inserting the Jakarta Charter
into the country's amended Constitution.
Following terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, Hamzah
issued a statement that the attacks should cleanse the U.S. of
its sins against the rest of the world.
Just after the U.S. attacked Afghanistan, the Vice President
openly supported moves by certain Muslim groups to send
volunteers for a holy war in Afghanistan.
His stance clearly contradicted Megawati's position on the two
issues. Megawati has long objected to plans to include the
Jakarta Charter into the Constitution and banned Indonesians from
going to Afghanistan to wage a holy war against the U.S.
According to Ikrar, Hamzah's disguised campaign would not be
successful as most Indonesian Muslims did not favor the taking of
extreme positions.