Home minister accused of favoring Golkar
Home minister accused of favoring Golkar
SEMARANG (JP): An observer has criticized Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M. for being politically partial and in support of policies which only benefit Golkar.
Susilo Utomo, a staff lecturer at Diponegoro University's School of Social and Political Sciences, said here yesterday that one of the minister's roles is to manage, and not interfere with, domestic politics.
The pembina, or patron, has been behaving as if he were part of Golkar, Susilo told The Jakarta Post.
"No wonder people see the patron of Indonesian politics as favoring Golkar at the expense of the PPP and the PDI," he said, referring to the Moslem-based United Development Party and the nationalist Indonesian Democratic Party.
As home affairs minister, Yogie, who is a leading member of Golkar, oversees political development at the national level. At the regional levels, the position is held by governors and regents.
A number of observers have criticized the role, which they believe deprives the people of political determination. Loekman Soetrisno of Gadjah Mada University, for instance, recently called on the government to scrap that aspect of the minister's portfolio as proof of the government's commitment to political reform.
PPP and PDI activists have also called for an end to what they call a feudalistic government policy.
Fatimah Achmad, head of the PDI's faction at the House of Representatives, said recently that the role has often been used by the minister to intervene in the internal affairs of other political parties.
She told the Post that the home affairs minister should be stripped of that authority so political parties can grow more independent and keep up with changes in society.
Some political parties, she said in reference to PPP and PDI, are debilitated by government intervention, while the ruling political grouping, Golkar, continues to grow stronger.
Fatimah cited the protracted conflicts in the PDI's East Java chapter as an example of political intervention.
East Java Governor Basofi Soedirman has justified his meddling in the affair as his right as the patron of political development in the region, she said.
Two men are vying for control of the chapter. The PDI's executive board supports Soetjipto as chairman, while Basofi's provincial administration apparently favors Latief Pudjosakti.
However, Susilo said it is not necessary to altogether revoke the minister's authority over domestic politics. "What's more important is that the role be improved so that the minister of home affairs can police political traffic," he said.
"He should be able to objectively and wisely manage conflicts and frictions within political parties without meddling," he said.
In addition, he said, the minister should remember that he has no right to judge certain political maneuvers as acceptable while dismissing the activities of other parties.
"He should really belong to all parties and groupings. He should not belong to Golkar only," he said. (har/swe)