Mega tells Korpri to stay neutral in 2004 elections
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung
President Megawati Soekarnoputri called on civil servants on Thursday to stay neutral in the 2004 elections, when the country holds both legislative elections and its first ever direct presidential election.
"Your neutral role will be very meaningful," President said before some 10,000 members of the Indonesian Civil Servants Corps (Korpri) attending the organization's 32nd anniversary celebration in Lembang, Bandung regency, West Java.
Megawati, who is also the chairperson of the country's largest party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), urged Korpri not to take sides so as to guarantee that the elections would be conducted democratically.
She said Korpri should learn from its past and present mistakes in order to improve its performance in serving the people in the future.
"Korpri has a long history, which has sometimes been clear but sometimes murky. This happened because of mistakes made by its members," she claimed.
Indonesia will hold legislative elections on April 5, 2004, and the first direct presidential in its history on July 5, 2004.
During Soeharto's 32 years of iron-fisted leadership, Korpri members were required to vote for Golkar. Members who were found to have voted for other parties, such as the United Development Party or the Indonesian Democratic Party, were often penalized by such sanctions as demotion.
Korpri chairman Feisal Tamin promised on Thursday that his organization, which has six million members, would remain neutral in the upcoming elections as it did in 1999.
"We (Korpri) are still committed to staying aloof from political parties," said Feisal, who is also Minister for Administrative Reforms, in his remarks.
The celebration ceremony was also attended by Megawati's husband Taufik Kiemas and several Cabinet ministers.
However, he admitted that there were political maneuvers afoot aimed to enticing civil servants to enter the political arena, and warned that this could threaten civil service reform.
"A failure to reform the bureaucracy will not only ruin Korpri, but also threaten the Unitary State of Indonesia," Feisal stressed.
Korpri secretary Zakaria Mahmud, meanwhile, revealed that more than 1,000 members of Korpri were facing dismissal after they were found holding positions in political parties.
"According to Law 43/1999 on the civil service, they have to resign if they want to become party members or executives," Mahmud told reporters.
Several top leaders of political parties are former civil servants, including state university lecturers, such as Amien Rais, chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), who taught in the Yogyakarta-based Gadjah Mada University, and Yusril Ihza Mahendra, chairman of the Crescent and Star Party (PBB), who lectured in the University of Indonesia.