Membership of Golkar active, voluntarily

JAKARTA (JP): Membership in Golkar is both active and voluntary, and this applies to some six million government employees who have joined the ruling political organization, Chairman Harmoko said yesterday.

Membership in the Civil Service Corps (Korpri) does not automatically make one a member of Golkar, Harmoko told reporters.

But the fact that six million of Golkar's 35 million members are from Korpri indicated the strong support the group enjoys from government workers, he said.

Harmoko was responding to questions from journalists about the ongoing debate on whether or not Korpri members are obliged to vote for Golkar, as had been suggested by some senior Korpri officials.

On this point, Harmoko stressed that Golkar fully complies with the laws and regulations that guarantee government employees freedom to vote at elections according to their preference.

"Freedom to choose in general elections is the basic right of every citizen," he said after opening a five-day seminar for Golkar cadres at its headquarter.

Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono on Monday asserted that although Korpri has statutes requiring its members to vote for Golkar at general elections, the government's regulations that guarantee their freedom to choose should reign supreme.

Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M., while affirming the regulations' supremacy, has insisted however that Korpri members who do not vote for Golkar should resign from their posts.

Korpri Secretary General Waskito Reksosoedirdjo said that Korpri members should vote for Golkar because it is the only organization which shares the same ideals and objectives as Korpri.

The two minority parties, the United Development Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party, have long complained about the way Korpri members are obliged to vote for Golkar at elections.

Harmoko, who is also the minister of information, said yesterday that if government employees vote for Golkar, it was chiefly because they are members of the political organization, and not because they are Korpri members.

"The majority of the government employees who are members of Korpri hold Golkar membership cards," he pointed out. "We appreciate every Korpri member who has joined Golkar," he added.

Korpri, which all government employees are associated with, has worked with Golkar's election machinery in past elections, sending its members to election rallies nationwide. Korpri is also one of the main components of the Golkar leadership. The other two are the Armed Forces and mass organizations.

In his speech at the seminar, Harmoko yesterday said Golkar is now working hard to woo first time voters, whose numbers are estimated at 21.4 million, at the 1997 general elections.

Since his election to the number one post in Golkar, Harmoko has vowed to increase Golkar's tally of votes in 1997 from the 68 percent it gained at the 1992 elections. (31/imn)