Gus Dur firm on closing ministries

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid was uncompromising on Thursday in defending his decision to abolish the ministries of information and social services.

In an emotional statement to officials from the information ministry, the President said they should not act in self-interest but consider the concerns of society.

The President denied allegations that his decision to dissolve the two ministries was made hastily, contending that it came from years of careful observation.

He was visibly annoyed when outgoing information minister Lt. Gen. (ret) Muhammad Yunus termed the decision unwise because it failed to take into account the fate of 50,000 employees of the ministries.

"Sir, you do not have a problem. You are a lieutenant general, a minister. You don't sense the feeling of people at the lower level. It is time to uphold efficiency," the President told Yunus at the State Guest House.

Yunus himself angered his staff shortly after his appointment by then president B.J. Habibie in May last year when he said the ministry should be dissolved as part of the country's democratization process.

"We appeal to your wisdom as the leader of the people. Amid this crisis, 50,000 civil servants will be laid off, and the ministry has been in existence since our independence," Yunus told Abdurrahman.

Yunus arrived late at the meeting after Addurrahman received the ministry's secretary-general I.G.K. Manila and 20 high- ranking ministry officials. They represented 5,000 civil servants from the ministry who were protesting outside Merdeka Palace, which is a few hundreds meters from the State Guest House.

"Frankly, your decision deeply disappointed us, sir," Yunus told the President.

Abdurrahman said his decision was based on 30 years of monitoring the ministries' activities.

"I will take care of them (the civil servants), and you, but regarding your request to reestablish the Ministry of Information, my answer is no way," the President said.

"It is up to you whether you think it's wise or not, that's none of my business."

He was adamant the decision was not due to the prodding of his advisors. "I am not a stupid man who just follows his advisors," he added.

The President said the public had long demanded the streamlining of the civil service and clean governance. He described one ministry in which licentiousness reigned.

"There is a ministry where businesspeople wait downstairs, while the officials are busy with the women offered by the businesspeople. I am ashamed of such a ministry."

Abdurrahman later met a delegation from the Ministry of Social Services.

The President said social welfare activities should be carried out by members of society, with the government's role limited to acting as a facilitator.

When an official said there were at least 23,000 civil servants at the ministry, the President replied: "Oh my God, it is too many. That's why the government is still poor."

Closure of the information ministry also caused protests in several provinces.

Employees of the information ministry's North Sumatra office rallied at the provincial legislature.

"We demand an explanation as we've never been fully informed," one of the officials, Baringin Purba, said.

In Central Java, head of the provincial ministry office, Soetadji, told employees to remain calm and continue working as usual.

"Don't worry, you will get new jobs and perhaps be assigned to other institutions," he said.

Some 80 employees in Temanggung expressed their anger by pulling down the office's signboard.

Another 500 employees in the Central Java regency of Cilacap went on strike and demanded the President clarify their work status.

"The government should pay attention to solving unemployment problems instead of laying off employees," an official, Prasodjo, told The Jakarta Post.

In the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar, about 4,000 of the ministry's employees demanded a mass strike in the ministry.

The call was directed at workers of state-run radio network RRI and the state-run television network TVRI. RRI employees agreed to strike if there was no definitive explanation of their status within three days. TVRI employees appeared reluctant to take the job action.

In Tangerang, Indrawadi Tamin, a mass communications expert and senior staff member of the ministry, asked the new government to explain which institution would oversee the content of RRI's news broadcasts and other issues resulting from the abolition of the ministry.

He said the government should also stipulate which institutions would regulate TV advertisements and programs with sexually explicit content.

"Who would reprimand them (the TV stations)? Would it be the minister of forestry exploration?" Tamin said emotionally.

He agreed the Ministry of Industry and Trade should control press publishing affairs.

"But what about the matter of journalists' professionalism? Thus, the security function (of the ministry) should remain," Tamin said. (05/30/39/41/45/har/prb)