House leaders tell Megawati to reshuffle cabinet lineup

House leaders tell Megawati to reshuffle cabinet lineup

Kurniawan Hari and Viva Goldner, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Leaders of the House of Representatives (DPR) told President
Megawati Soekarnoputri on Tuesday not to blame the bureaucracy
for poor performance but Cabinet ministers who could not mobilize
the bureaucracy at their respective departments.

They also urged Megawati to reshuffle her Cabinet if she found
her ministers ineffective in discharging their assigned duties.

"If she is unhappy or disappointed with the performance of her
Cabinet ministers, she could reshuffle her Cabinet lineup
anytime," House Speaker Akbar Tandjung told reporters here on
Tuesday.

House deputy speaker Soetardjo Soerjogoeritno concurred with
Akbar, saying that the President should dismiss ineffective
ministers from her rainbow Cabinet.

Akbar and Soetardjo were commenting on Megawati's complaint on
Monday that the bureaucracy preferred to remain desk-bound rather
than go out and check reports firsthand. She also described her
government and the bureaucracy as trashy.

"We fully understand the difficulties we have to face. The
most important thing is our commitment," said Akbar, who is
chairman of Golkar, the second biggest faction in the House.

Akbar said he would accept the reshuffle even if Megawati
decided to dismiss three Golkar cadres from her rainbow Cabinet.
"If it is reasonable, then why not?" he said.

Soetardjo, meanwhile, added that a reshuffle was the
prerogative of the President, therefore there was no obligation
for Megawati to talk with leaders of other political parties.

Meanwhile, political observer Andi Mallarangeng dismissed
Megawati's comments, saying the President should stop complaining
and take action if she was not satisfied with the performance of
her administration.

"Of course there are problems with the bureaucracy, because it
remains as it was inherited from the New Order. There is a need
for civil service reform, but there is no need for the President
to complain without doing anything," Andi said.

"The President doesn't have any direction or vision about
where to go with the civil service -- there are no bold
initiatives. While the President complains, she is not doing
anything. People are tired of just statements, people want to see
change."

While Megawati has the power and authority to bring about
change, reforms to date have been superficial and ineffective,
according to Andi.

For example, he criticized the so-called government austerity
program, which encourages ministers to live modestly and not wear
suits, announced by State Minister of Administrative Reforms
Feisal Tamin late last year.

Andi also said the appointment of Feisal represented a
conflict of interest because of his key role in Golkar under the
New Order administration.

"What we are seeing is not a progressive civil service, but in
fact one that is moving back to being more conservative," Andi
said.

Andi said the state bureaucracy needed to restructure auditing
processes, and introduce corporate culture through an open
recruitment system, with clear job descriptions and performance
measures.