Nepotism not really an issue: Moerdiono
Nepotism not really an issue: Moerdiono
JAKARTA (JP): Amid rising criticism, Minister/State Secretary
Moerdiono said yesterday there was nothing wrong with recruiting
relatives of well-placed officials as prospective members of the
House of Representatives.
"So long as they are qualified for the position, nepotism in
the recruitment of House members is no real problem," Moerdiono
told reporters yesterday after a hearing with House Commission II
for home affairs.
In Central Java yesterday, scholars warned that recruiting
relatives and close friends would only worsen the already-
unfavorable image of the House.
The debate over alleged nepotism in the recruitment of future
House members has been raging since the three political
organizations announced their legislative candidates last week.
The three political organizations, Golkar, the United
Development Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) will
contest 425 seats in the 500-seat House. The remaining 75 seats
are reserved for the Armed Forces (ABRI): its personnel are not
allowed to vote in general elections.
Observers say that many candidates were included on the
party's lists because of their close personal relationships with
senior officials in the government or in their parties.
They say that some figures were nominated to represent
provinces where they are unknown.
Moerdiono argued that even in western countries, the
appointment of an official's wife for a certain post was
acceptable so long as she was qualified.
The issue of nepotism in the selection of prospective
legislators was also raised by House member A.A. Oka Mahendra, a
member of House Commission II from Golkar.
Oka said that nepotism was practiced by the three groups
contesting the election.
"Let the people judge if the House members (appointed because
of their good relations with officials) are able to perform their
jobs," Moerdiono said.
Meanwhile, several political observers said yesterday that
future House members must be empowered to improve the image of
the legislative body.
They said the House needed legislators with the courage to
defend common people, to shed the image that the legislative body
is simply a "rubber stamp institution" for the government.
Muhammad Hikam, a social researcher at the Indonesian
Institute of Sciences, said that nepotism would cause the public
to think that the future House members were unsatisfactory.
Nepotism, he argued, would fill the House with people too weak
to control the government.
"I imagine the House will be quiet as a majority of its
members will not criticize the government because they know it
was government officials who gave them the seat," Hikam said in
Semarang.
Political observer Afan Gaffar and scholar Muladi yesterday
suggested an overhaul in the recruitment process for prospective
legislators to improve the House's performance.
"Each political party should carefully select their
candidates," Afan told The Jakarta Post.
Muladi, a rector of Diponegoro University, suggested the three
political organizations recruit academics as legislative
candidates: "I suggest that 30 percent of the 500 seats in the
House of Representatives should go to intellectuals."
"The presence of intellectuals is expected to increase the
quality of the House because they are good at formulating
concepts and solving problems," he said.
Afan and Muladi suggested that to improve the House's
performance, each commission and faction in the House should be
provided expert staff.
In a separate development, Golkar Deputy Chairman Abdul Gafur
denied the accusation that Golkar was nepotistic in recruiting
its prospective legislators.
"We put quality above anything else," he said.
A group of Irianese youth activists went to Golkar
headquarters yesterday to protest Golkar's recruitment system of
prospective legislators.
The youths, led by Andy D. Manobi, demanded that the Irian
Jaya constituency be represented by Irianese because they knew
more about the province than people from outside the area.
(imn/har)