Hiring of special staffers for the President, Minister

Prijono Tjiptoherijanto, Jakarta

The government plans to appoint special staff for the President, the Vice President and ministers. The plan also stipulates the number of the special staffers: 10 for the President, five for the Vice President and three for each minister. Given the nature of the job, a special staffer will be assigned for as long as the political official he or she assists is in the job. This means that a special staffer can come from any group, as long as he or she meets the wishes of their boss.

It was president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid who started to hire special staffers when he began his two-year term in October 1999. In 2000 there was a plan to appoint 15 special staffers for him and vice president Megawati Soekarnoputri, respectively. Ministers can have up to 10 special aides, while five are available for governors and three for regents and mayors.

Although this idea never became reality, Gus Dur did appoint a number of "spokespersons", who, actually, could also have been considered special staff members. Their expenses, however, could not be covered by the state budget because there was no formal foundation that could administratively allow the use of the state budget for this purpose.

As a result, presidential staffers in those years were busy finding ways to cover the expenses of these "special staffers".

President Megawati Soekarnoputri saw the presence of special staffers in her administration. Although the president herself did not appoint a single special staffer, Vice President Hamzah Haz was authorized to have five special staffers, all appointed by virtue of a presidential decree. It seems that five is considered the right number of special staffers for the vice president.

Looking at the background for the idea of appointing special staffers, there is nothing strange or debatable about it. Problems will arise if this matter is linked with financial and administrative issues that entail well-thought-out consideration in implementation.

First, the financial and budgetary aspects. As these special staffers will get allowances and facilities of echelon-ranked officials, or a total of Rp 4.5 million (US$450) a month, the budget for them must be calculated. If a special staffer is assigned by the president, the vice president or a minister for a trip domestically or abroad, a letter of assignment and travel expenses must be prepared.

The question is whether all this has been included in the 2005 state budget or even in the 2005 revised state budget now being debated. If it has not, who will bear these expenses, at least until the revised state budget is approved, once the appointment of special staffers is made? It seems that relevant officials in the state administration must discuss this new policy before it is adopted and implemented.

Second, the administrative and bureaucratic aspects. The presence of special staffers would certainly affect the existing government bureaucracy. The proximity between these special staffers and the chiefs of government institutions will affect the routine work and task implementation of bureaucrats. So, there is always a possibility there will be conflict between these two camps.

Third, the aspects of behavior and subjectivity. Although in the regulation that will be passed, the term of office of a special staffer will be the same as that of the president, the vice president and the ministers, it will not be easy to ask these special staffers to resign when the chiefs of the government institutions they belong to resign.

Special staffers assisting the president and the vice president may not worry much about this possibility. But what about the special staffers assisting ministers? What about a Cabinet reshuffle? Will it mean that the special staffers concerned have to resign? What will happen when it is indeed time for a minister to be replaced? Do special staffers that have been assigned for three months, for example, also have to be replaced?

If you play by the book, they must! These special staffers "come and go" in conformity with the terms of office of the chiefs of the institutions that bring them in and pick them.

Won't this lead to "psychological worries"? Although a special staffer has from the very start stated his or her readiness to resign, the facilities accorded to a high-ranking official are often too alluring to abandon. That is why many officials fight to be able to remain in office.

The appointment of special staffers to complete an administration is quite natural and is necessary in the present era of reform and democratization.

This idea actually dates back as far as the days of president Soeharto. At that time, a team coordinated by the State Secretariat was set up to study the running of the White House in Washington, D.C.

In a study tour of Washington, the idea cropped up about the appointment of special staffers. Also proposed at that time was an organizational revamp of the presidential institution to make it similar to the management system of the White House.

Any way, the revamping of institutions and personnel must be immediately effected. Therefore, the reorganization of technically relevant ministries, state minister offices and even non-ministerial institutions, to keep abreast with the development of circumstances and the needs of the state, must be made a top priority. Then all echelon I positions in these institutions must be filled. Only later can special staffers be appointed.

The writer was head of the Civil Service Agency from 2000 to 2002.