Korpri independency vital for honest and fair elections

By Edith Hartanto and Riyadi

JAKARTA (JP): Feisal Tamin came under the spotlight recently when he made a threat to turn the five-million-strong Indonesian Civil Servant Corps (Korpri) he chairs into a political party.

It was a response to a House of Representatives deliberation over a bill which suggests preserving the involvement of the corps in political parties.

Four factions in the House -- the Armed Forces, the United Development Party, the Indonesian Democratic Party and the Golkar functional group -- will fight for civil servant votes in the upcoming elections.

Under the former government, civil servants and their families were obliged to vote for Golkar, helping the party to a landslide victory in every general election.

Sensing a loss of its traditional votes, Golkar has been fighting to let civil servants join political parties, arguing a denial of civil rights to do otherwise.

But Feisal believes that civil servants must now be independent of any political party in serving the people.

A career bureaucrat hailing from Dompu, Sumbawa, West Nusa Tenggara, who became Korpri's chairman just days before Soeharto resigned last May, shared his views with The Jakarta Post.

Question: Why does Korpri now suddenly want to become independent, after decades of allegiance to Golkar?

Feisal: The idea behind the formation of Korpri is actually relevant to any situation. Korpri is an organization for all civil servants to serve the nation, the state and the people. Therefore, in our symbols and songs, we always assert that we Korpri members are servants of the nation, the state and the people. If we talk about the nation, the state and the people, we understand that they are one, united. This means that Korpri members do not serve only certain groups of the people or half of this nation.

When did Korpri become Golkar affiliated and why then do you want to break your affiliation with Golkar?

Affiliation with Golkar began in 1979. We could feel that Korpri was intensively being used by and affiliated to a social political interest. But since May 21 (when Soeharto resigned), there have been tremendous changes in our state, government and nation which affect all elements of the state, including Korpri.

Looking at those big changes, we try to monitor and collect ideas and aspirations from lower levels. We started to hold various meetings in June to collect aspirations. In July and August, we held special regional meetings in Padang, Surabaya and Ujungpandang.

We agreed on three points. One, Korpri must be brought back to its basic idea. Two, Korpri must remain in existence. And three, Korpri must reform itself to bring it back to its original mission.

As Korpri is part of this nation, we realized that we need a legal basis to change. Because we civil servants are normal citizens who cannot be separated from political life, we have to wait for political bills to be passed into laws. In those bills, there is an article which states that civil servants and Armed Forces personnel may not become executives or members of any political party.

We supported this article and plan to hold a Korpri national congress in mid February to give a formal decision on this crucial issue.

So how should civil servants position themselves?

The most important thing is for them to stay together and put the interests of the nation and the people above the benefit of certain groups. We are supporting the neutrality idea and now it's not necessary for us to join any particular power grouping.

And I think it is better not to be correlated with any political party as long as the political right (to vote) still exists. This is a basic human right that must prevail and cannot be disturbed.

If we talked about the right to form a union and to make a gathering, we (Korpri) have done so as an organization and there is a legitimate ruling in the 1945 Constitution.

The bottom line is I want a strong and professional Korpri which can run the government's work. Do not sacrifice public service over conflict of interests between elites. We can improve professionalism through training, classes and of course, better salaries.

Talking about neutrality, how do you see the recent incident when a group of lecturers from the University of Indonesia let go of their Korpri uniforms in public as a symbol of freedom?

I have not checked the matter thoroughly but I think it is a normal thing to do. It is possible that these people felt suppressed during the New Order period. They were restrained and forced to except the manufactured condition back then, and now they express their opinion through such ways.

What is the strongest aspiration coming from below?

The dominant opinion (among the civil servants) is for Korpri to exist. And, of course, the strongest pressure is for us not to be Golkar's political machine. If the drive was not that strong I would not dare declare this (laughing).

It seems that civil servants are afraid not to choose Golkar because they fear for their jobs or of being suppressed.

Seen from our current mechanism in channeling aspirations, which is more open and with a bottom-up approach, there is no need for them to be afraid anymore.

Look at it this way. From the total 5.1 million civil servants, excluding the ones working in state companies, there is a wide possibility for them to have different choices and opinions. These are their individual rights.

All of this time, civil servants were, and are, automatically Korpri members. It is in the statutes of the organization. But this will change Korpri National Congress in February.

Is there a guarantee for civil servants to cast their ballots freely?

Of course there is! This is entirely free. I will personally announce this at the upcoming national congress to clear things up. If, in the process, many political parties were pulling strings, trying to gather support, it's a natural thing to do. As for me or any other Korpri member ending up choosing different parties, it's entirely our own decision. That's it. No pressure, no obstacle. So it is a guarantee to be free from fear also.

My wife and kids asked me "what will we choose?" and "where will we go?" in the next poll. I said it is up to the entire six million civil servants (including those working in state companies) along with the rest of an estimated 30 million making up their families (if one family consisted of five people) to decide their own favor. I myself am part of that six million.

The most important thing is for us to stay united as one corps. Can you imagine if there were civil servants who become executives of the National Mandate Party, the splintered Indonesian Democratic Party or the National Awakening party? Well, they might as well serve only the parties that match their interests. This kind of possibility must be avoided.

President B.J. Habibie himself, as the leader of the government, has instructed us to be neutral. So we support it 100 percent. We have to think for the sake of this nation first. Being neutral is our first priority now.

From the development of the deliberation process of three political bills, it seems that the rule on civil servants' political role will be delayed.

Well, it seems that all the House factions agreed the civil servants' matter very important. But let's not let one thing ruin the whole structure, it's just not wise. So what the factions' decide, which is to delay and separate the issue in other ruling, is a very wise thing to do.

In connection with the next poll, our neutrality as civil servants is being tested here. We want a fair and just election.

In the past, there was no "fair and just" poll because the words and sentence stating "fair and just" could never make it to the regulations. I know because I took part in the deliberation process of the law carefully from 1975 to the making of Law No.2/1985.

At that time, I asked the then home affairs minister Amir Machmud, "Sir, why don't we put the 'fair and just' factor in the regulation?" He replied: "Ssshh, come on, you're only a staff member. Just play along and the most important thing is no such 'fair and just' thing."

Now the words "just and fair" have been clearly set out. We have no choice but to support it. Meaning, the next election must not be wasted just because the people do not give enough legitimacy to the election results.

Don't think that we want to mess things up now that all significant parties agreed to support the election. Some time ago, may societal groupings were busy yelling "Habibie down ... Habibie down."

It is so stupid for us not to support a fair and just election. On this point you can count on us. Give us the chance to prove it.

Our expectation is actually simple. Whoever wins the election, please do not disturb the professional duties of the civil servants.

What I'm saying is this. If, for instance, The Jakarta Post wins the poll, then you will choose all of the bureaucrats, from the janitors to the executives, from your side and eliminate the others.

We, Indonesians, have this tendency. This is not professional and must not happen in the future. Look at Japan as an example. Many times the cabinets were changed and rolled but the bureaucracy, administration and service to the people kept on going. It is because they carry professional values.

What about the election monitoring network?

The most important thing is for the monitoring groups to be organized and have a certain standardization of rules. I suggest they channel their aspiration through the election supervisory committee of the General Election Committee. We have a tough job as there will be 320,000 voting points throughout the country.

The monitoring groups must be truly independent. We have to watch out as there is a possibility for them to be manipulated by certain parties. Just because students, for example, wear their alma mater jackets does not mean that people can trust them 100 percent. Who knows?

The bottom line is lets be careful and avoid possible clashes.

Do you believe there will be a general election?

What? (Quiet for a while). Well, of course I have to be sure of this. Otherwise, all of my hard work will mean nothing. I do not know what will happen in the next few month. I'm not a god.

But I believe that I have to do my best to pull off this fair and just election, to be respected by the people.

There's no better gate to democracy than a fair and open poll.