Govt plans mass reshuffle in bureaucracy

Govt plans mass reshuffle in bureaucracy

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Around 50 percent of first echelon government officials are
facing imminent reshuffle due to their poor performance, Vice
President Jusuf Kalla said.

Kalla told The Jakarta Post in a special interview on
Wednesday that the preparations for the reshuffle would take two
or three months to complete.

He said the reshuffle was aimed at boosting the performance of
the bureaucracy.

"The reshuffle will not replace all first echelon officials.
Only those who have reached mandatory retirement age and who are
performing bad. The ratio between the two categories is about
fifty-fifty," he explained.

He said that some of the top officials were failing to perform
as expected and were facing reshuffle as they had done nothing
during the first five months of the election campaign.

This lasted between February and September of last year, when
political parties were preparing for the legislative and direct
presidential elections. Government officials were allowed to take
up party jobs during the elections provided they took a leave of
absence and did not use state facilities.

Kalla said the major reshuffle, the first in over 10 months,
was a must for the sake of regeneration.

With about 700 first echelon officials in 30 ministries and
other state institutions, the government of President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono plans to carry out the reshuffle over three
years.

The President will lead the team that will select the first of
the new echelon one officials. The team will also involve the Vice
President, the State Minister for Administrative Reform and the
National Intelligence Agency chief.

The candidates will have to be senior civil servants with
excellent track records in their respective fields.

"The minister must be able to justify the candidates in front
of the team," Kalla said.

Kalla said that the selection process would ensure fairness.

Those selected to fill the first echelon posts will be
approved by the President through a presidential decree.

The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights is among the ministerial
offices that have completed the reshuffle process. On Thursday it
will install an expert advisor, Oka Mahendra, as the new director
general of legislation, replacing Abdulgani Abdullah

Abdulgani will now head the ministry's law supervisory body.

Susilo once complained about the slow progress of reform
within the bureaucracy. He said the bureaucratic machine was
unable to keep up with the Cabinet.

The country's bureaucracy has been criticized not only for its
poor performance, but its vulnerability to corruption as well.

The current situation owes its origin to the New Order era,
when the bureaucracy served as the political vehicle of the
regime. At that time, the president had the sole authority to
replace first echelon officials.

Efforts to reform the bureaucracy began with the establishment
of the Office of the State Minister for Administrative Reform and
the enactment of the Civil Service Law (No. 43/1999).