Ministerial decree on Korpri functionaries under fire
JAKARTA (JP): The new ministerial decree awarding structural ranks to functionaries of the Civil Servants Corps has sparked fierce criticism from major factions at the House of Representatives.
House Deputy Speaker Soetardjo Soerjoguritno asked the government on Friday to revoke the decree issued by State Minister of Administrative Reforms Freddy Numberi because it lacked any legal basis.
"Korpri cannot be treated as a state agency. This could inspire other organizations representing employees in state-owned companies to ask for similar treatment," said Soetardjo, who represents the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle in the House leadership.
He regretted Korpri chairman Faisal Tamin's statement on the decree, saying this showed he ignored the protests of civil servants unhappy with the government's recent decision to increase the structural allowances of government officials by up to 2,000 percent.
"I don't know whether the Korpri chairman is concerned about the lives of civil servants and how difficult it is for them to live," he said.
Faisal said on Thursday there was nothing to be worry about regarding the decree.
It was signed on Feb. 1.
He insisted that Korpri functionaries deserve structural ranks and salary because Korpri is part of the bureaucracy.
According to the decree, Faisal, also a former secretary- general of the Home Affairs Ministry, would earn a structural allowance worth Rp 9 million per month.
Chief of the Institute of State Personnel Administration Sofian Effendi told The Jakarta Post on Thursday the government would revise the decree.
Soetardjo urged the House to summon the minister to explain the controversial item.
But he suspected that Freddy didn't know much about it, and assumed that a certain group had conspired to push the decree through.
"There is something truly rotten going on in the government, illustrated beautifully by the release of the decree," he said.
House Speaker Akbar Tandjung said on Friday that he would check further on the decree, although he had apparently agreed to it.
"There are not many functionaries in Korpri. But we must study it further," Akbar who is also the chairman of the Golkar Party, said.
Bachtiarchamsyah, a member of the United Development Party (PPP) faction at the House said the decree had sparked protests among the members of the commission.
"Most members in our faction have been shocked by the controversial decree because with the decree the government includes Korpri in the bureaucracy," he said.
He also stated that he was confident the controversy would create a new wave of protests from many sides if the government did not revoke it.
Bachtiarchamsyah labeled the decree unfair for Korpri is not a state agency and is not subordinated to the bureaucracy.
"The decree is very strange in that it gives ranks to Korpri functionaries. They do not work for the government. Civil servants who are recruited to serve the public must be separated from Korpri which they, and not the government, have established," he said.
Achmad Sumargono, chairman of the Crescent Star Party (PBB), joined the chorus of criticism, saying the enforcement of the decree could deepen the social disparity in Indonesian society.
"This decree is proof of the government's lack of sensitivity to the country's social problems," he said, warning that the decree could worsen the social unrest caused by the government's unpopular policies. (jun/rms)