House may vote on civil servants' political status

House may vote on civil servants' political status

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives (DPR) may resort to
voting -- a matter of course in many other countries, but so rare
in Indonesia it is headline material -- following its factions'
failure to agree on whether the four million civil servants
should be allowed to enter politics.

Golkar, the dominant faction which insists that public
servants should be able to vote and be elected, is refusing to
contemplate the possibility of either backing down or voting.

"Ooh, there won't be a vote. Never. Just wait and see," Yahya
Zaini of Golkar told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

The United Development Party (PPP) is enjoying the rare
support of the powerful Armed Forces (ABRI) and the tiny
Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) in its campaign to bar civil
servants from joining political parties.

"They can enter politics if they retire early," Djufrie
Asmoredjo of PPP said. "This is our stance and we will not
compromise."

"If civil servants are allowed to join political parties, then
service personnel will want the same," said Wiyanjono of PDI.
"What will become of the country if the Armed Forces are allowed
to have their own political party?"

Golkar's attitude is that prohibition is tantamount to
violation of the civil servants' political rights, but PPP says
that only Golkar would benefit from approving the measure. The
32-year New Order regime built for Golkar a network of support
that reached down to village chiefs, the lowest level of
bureaucracy.

A high-ranking government official, asking for anonymity,
agreed that if the three factions' campaign prevailed, Golkar
would suffer an "early loss" in the next general election since
the majority of civil servants were its members and cadres.

The House's Working Committee deliberating the bill on
political parties reached an impasse on the issue last Friday.
The legislators agreed to defer the discussion on the issue to
the plenary session in mid-January, and continue to finish the
other, less controversial, issues in the Formulation Team.

Indria Samego, a political observer at the National Institute
of Sciences (LIPI), said voting could take place but Golkar would
still prevail because of its majority.

Golkar has 325 of the House's 500 seats -- a legacy of the New
Order regime when the government and the Armed Forces went to
great lengths to ensure its victory.

Indria said that despite its dominant position, Golkar should
heed public opinion on the issue.

"Not only the government, LIPI and other independent
organizations but, and mainly, the general public want the four
million civil servants to remain neutral," Indria said.

Robbani Thoha of PPP, however, said his faction would secure a
victory of sorts even if it lost the vote. "If Golkar forces us
to vote, the public will know that (Golkar) is fighting to
maintain the status quo. We have nothing to lose. A vote will
tarnish Golkar's image," he said.

Annual meeting

The Working Committee in charge of deliberating the bill on
the structure of the House, the People's Consultative Assembly
(MPR) and provincial and regency legislatures, agreed the next
MPR would meet every year rather than quinquennially as in the
past.

Committee chairman Budi Harsono said all factions agreed that
in the future there should be Annual Sessions, Special Sessions
and General Sessions of the MPR.

"In its Annual Sessions, the MPR will hear the annual reports
of the executive and annual reports from other state institutions
such as the Supreme Court and State Audit Agency," he said on
Monday.

In General Sessions, held every five years, the MPR would ask
for the executive's account of its actions and elect a new
president. Special Session would be held in emergency situations.

Budi said the agreement was reached after the committee
consulted constitutional law expert Sri Sumantri, who insisted
more regular meetings were needed to empower the highest state
institution and to avoid violations of the Constitution by the
executive.

He said the House would recommend the Assembly's 1999 General
Session issue a new decree on the annual MPR sessions.

The development was hailed by the government.

Ryaas Rasyid, the director general of regional autonomy at the
Ministry of Home Affairs, said the decision was in line with the
government-sponsored bill and with the planned separation of the
leadership of the People's Consultative Assembly from that of the
House of Representatives.

Budi also said the committee decided that all future
agreements between the government and foreign countries and
international agencies, especially those affecting the interests
of the majority of the people, should first be approved by the
House.

"Government-to-Government agreements, including financial
loans, must first be approved by the House while those between
provincial and regency administrations and foreign countries and
international agencies must get approval from provincial and
regency legislatures," he said. (rms)