Ministers told to quit party jobs

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Calls are mounting for Cabinet members to relinquish their posts in political parties and business enterprises to avoid conflict of interests and to allow them to focus on state duties.

Analysts Johannes Kristiadi of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Saldi Isra of the Padang-based Andalas University said on Monday that although there was no regulation requiring ministers to quit their party jobs, such a move would be a logical consequence of the pledge they made to the President.

"The ministers have signed a contract that they will work to the utmost to help President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono fulfill his campaign promises -- and this will be an uphill struggle. They must concentrate on the job and end any activities relating to political parties or business endeavors," Kristiadi said.

Should they not resign, the ministers' work in Cabinet would be compromised by time spent working with their political parties, he said.

Several Cabinet ministers have wavered about relinquishing their party posts, while Crescent Star Party (PBB) chairman Yusril Ihza Mahendra and PBB secretary general Malam Sambat Ka'ban have explicitly refused to give up their political jobs, saying there would be no conflict of interest if they were kept on as party leaders.

Six other politically appointed ministers said the final say on whether they should resign remained hanging in the balance pending decisions from their parties.

Kristiadi doubted political parties would dismiss members who had been appointed ministers.

"Part of the parties' objectives is to accumulate power and the appointment of their members as ministers could meet this goal," he said.

Saldi said if the ministers did not resign from political posts their portfolios, and the nation's development, would suffer.

"We have learned from past experience that ministers strive only for their party interests," he said.

The likelihood of these ministers resigning however was small as their appointments were precisely because of their political affiliation, he said.

"President Susilo handpicked them because they are representatives of political parties, which would likely ease the way for him in the House of Representatives," he said.

Meanwhile, Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakri said on Monday he no longer held any positions in his business empire starting as of June.

"I have let younger people take over my duties. It is now my turn to give my service to the public," he said.