Parties urged to sue govt over new ruling

Parties urged to sue govt over new ruling

JAKARTA (JP): Constitutional law expert Harun Alrasid is
urging new political parties to sue the government for issuing a
decree on civil servants in violation of the law.

He said new parties, barred from the deliberation of recently
endorsed political bills, should sue the government because the
decree apparently violates the 1975 Law No. 3 which guarantees
civil servants' rights to join political parties and Golkar
without having to forfeit their positions in the bureaucracy.

"How could the government have done it?" he said to The
Jakarta Post by telephone on Saturday. He was referring to the
issuance last week of a government regulation, which has lower
status than a law, to ensure civil servants' neutrality.

Established to resolve conflict among House factions
deliberating the political bill, the regulation was also later
condemned by minority United Development Party (PPP) for going
against an earlier agreement.

The agreement was that PPP could have a neutral bureaucracy
-- in the hope that Golkar would no longer be able to exploit it
-- if it stopped opposing Golkar and the Armed Forces' motion to
give the military 38 unelected House seats. As it turned out, the
Armed Forces got its seats, but PPP did not get the decree it
wanted.

Following the ensuing uproar, which threatened to jeopardize
the endorsement of the political bills, the government promised
to revise the decree.

New political parties had already criticized the bills and
demanded that they be amended in order to ensure a fair and free
general election in June.

Harun, a professor of law at the University of Indonesia,
lashed out at the new regulation. "Its issuance was a lowly
political trick that transpired between the government and
factions in the House of Representatives to deceive other (new)
parties and the people."

He accused the government and the House factions of
dishonestly issuing and supporting a decree which stipulates that
civil servants can temporarily join political parties while still
receiving a salary during their leave of absence. Some officials
have given contradicting statements, saying civil servants would
not be paid during their leave, while the decree itself says they
would be paid up to five years.

"It is strange and unusual that someone limits his/her
membership in a political party for a certain or short period and
that civil servants joining political parties will be paid
without having to work," he said.

Revision

He urged the government to instead revise the 1974 law on
civil servants to ensure their neutrality.

"If the government and the House are committed to maintaining
civil servants' neutrality, they should amend portions in the
1974 Law No. 23 on reasons for civil servants to quit their
jobs," he said.

Meanwhile, a number of lecturers of the Bandung Institute of
Technology (ITB) resigned from Golkar in response to the issuance
of the decree. They returned their Golkar membership cards to the
party's West Java provincial chapter.

Djoko Santoso, an assistant to the institute's rector, also
submitted an official letter of resignation to the provincial
Golkar chapter chairman.

"With this letter and the new regulation, we declare our
official resignation from Golkar and return our membership
cards," he said while reading the letter before the provincial
Golkar chapter on Friday.

Rector Liliek Hendrajaya said the move was meant to maintain
the institute's independence so it could participate in
monitoring the elections scheduled for June 7.

"It is a pivotal role the institute will play in its social
and political contribution to the nation," he said.

In Jember, East Java, 29 civil servants resigned from their
positions in the local Golkar chapter. The total number of
chapter executives was 50.

In a related development, about 70 percent of Golkar's Central
Sulawesi provincial chapter's functionaries will have to choose
whether to continue in politics or resign from the bureaucracy.

The soon-to-be-revised decree allows civil servants to join
political parties if they vacate their posts in the bureaucracy
and report to their superiors within three months.

The provincial chapter will not hold an extraordinary meeting
to elect new functionaries, according to Sahabuddin Mustapa,
deputy chairman of Golkar's Central Sulawesi chapter, in Palu on
Saturday.

Sahabuddin, also a deputy rector of the University of
Tandaluko, said he was optimistic that despite the regulation,
Golkar would remain the top choice for the majority of people in
the province.

Meanwhile, about 30 civil servants who also were functionaries
of Golkar's Bandarlampung, Lampung, branch said they had decided
to quit their jobs in the local administration and maintain their
party membership.

Indra Karyadi, the chairman of the local Golkar branch, said
he would consult Golkar leaders on when would be an appropriate
time for them to discard their bureaucracy uniforms. (43/rms)