Govt to issue ruling on civil servants rights today

JAKARTA (JP): The government is set to issue on Tuesday a decree that will "ensure" civil servants' neutrality. The ruling, a result of weeks of haggling among House factions, will end once and for all the deadlocked deliberation on the political bills in time for the Jan. 28 deadline.

Director General of Public Administration and Regional Autonomy Ryaas Rasyid on Monday, citing an agreement between the government and the House of Representatives' Working Committee deliberating the bill on political parties, said the decree was to be issued on Tuesday.

"The political bills are scheduled to be endorsed on Jan. 28," he added.

Ryaas said the new regulation "guarantees" the 4.1 million civil servants' neutrality. Out of respect for their political rights, however, it will not ban them from entering political parties, he said.

The decree is considered by the government to be a compromise for the two contending factions in the House. The dominant Golkar had demanded that civil servants be allowed to join political parties, citing human rights reasons.

The bureaucrats were in the past Golkar's staunchest supporters in winning five consecutive general elections.

The United Development Party (PPP), leery of past manipulations of civil servants by Golkar, fought against the motion. In this case, the PPP was supported by the government representatives, the Armed Forces (ABRI) and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

The stalemate had at once stage threatened the deliberation of the bill on political parties, which is expected to lay the groundwork for the June 7 elections.

"Civil servants are in principle neutral, regardless of their rank. They are allowed to be members and functionaries of political parties only if they take three years unpaid leave, or quit their job," he said.

He said civil servants who took the unpaid leave were freed of their daily tasks and positions. During their absence, they were barred from doing anything relating to their tasks in the bureaucracy.

The government and House factions eventually agreed to drop the issue from the draft law and, instead, cover it in the government regulation whose contents are expected to be in accordance with the 1974 Law on Civil servants.

"Neither will the new ruling contradict the 1976 presidential decree which bars government officials from being active in political parties, including Golkar," he said.

"According to the presidential decree, government officials are obliged to get leave from their superiors if they want to participate in political parties," he said. (rms)