President should control ministers
JAKARTA (JP): A political observer says the head of state needs to take sterner action against errant ministers.
Maswadi Rauf, a lecturer at University of Indonesia's School of Social and Political Sciences, told a seminar on clean governance here Thursday, the head of state was responsible for the establishment of a clean and respected government. He should not, therefore, be reluctant to use his authority to correct mismanagement by his subordinates.
Maswadi was referring to several ministers' controversial deeds related to the financial management of their ministries. He said there were at least two occasions when President Soeharto had defended his subordinates instead of reprimanding them.
One of the most recent cases involved Minister of Mines and Energy I.B. Sudjana who had ordered a transfer of funds from state-owned coal mining company PT Tambang Batubara Bukit Asam into his personal bank account.
Following the uproar, earlier this month President Soeharto said the coal funds would be returned but there had been no reports about whether the minister had made a management mistake.
In January, Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto was cleared of alleged corruption involving billions of rupiah of state funds. President said only that the minister had made "administrative" mistakes.
"The President should use more frequently his authority to impose sanctions against ministers who tarnish the government's clean image," Maswadi said in a seminar held by the United Development Party.
Maswadi said Soeharto functions as the head of state and head of the government. "Because of this dual role, the President plays an important role in creating a clean and respectable government," he said.
As head of government, the President has the authority to appoint and dismiss ministers.
Maswadi admitted, however, that a culturally-embedded reluctance has so permeated Indonesia it was difficult for people to tolerate a replacement in the cabinet even if they considered a minister had tarnished the government's image.
Maswadi defined clean government as one which has majority support, brings prosperity to the people, and translates their demands and aspirations into policies.
Enforcement
Economist Faisal H. Basri shared Maswadi's view, citing the need for better law enforcement even when it concerned officials still in power.
He lamented how law has replaced rules and regulations and has distorted values and norms, and how the judiciary system no longer protects people from injustices but has become a tool for corrupt officials to justify their misdeeds.
Faisal, known for his criticism of many government policies, accused the authorities of creating injustices in the economy by allowing certain businessmen to exploit Indonesian resources. In this situation, he said, it's the public that loses out.
"Both those in power and businessmen get all the benefits of economic exploitation, while the public, in this case the consumers, have to bear all the losses inflicted by those 'colluding' in the authorities-businessmen deal," he said.
He cited monopoly practices in wheat flour, cloves, sugar, palm oil, rice and high-octane gasoline as examples of the losses the consumers must bear because of these deals.
Similar redistributions of benefits are found in the imposition of new highway tariffs, the financing and sales of aircraft of the State Aircraft Industry IPTN, the restructuring of the privately-owned airline Sempati Air and the construction of the Hang Nadim Airport on Batam island.
Referring to the government's protection of a local company producing the controversial "National Car," Faisal called it a redistribution of interest between car salesmen.
The government imposes special tax rates on PT Timor Putra Nasional, a privately-owned car manufacturer, to take the benefits of the car production and distribution monopoly away from the hands of the already existing major automobile manufacturers. (imn)