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.