Public pressure called for to neutralize bureaucracy

JAKARTA (JP): Political observer J. Kristiadi has called on the public to exert pressure on the House of Representatives -- now in recess -- so that it decides against allowing the 4.1 million civil servants to enter politics.

The researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies warned of potential "power politics" if the bureaucracy was not neutral in politics.

"They can vote for political parties, but they must not be allowed to join political parties," he said.

He commended the government's initial proposal in a draft law that civil servants be barred from joining political parties.

But he lashed out at the latest offer of the government -- which many observers saw as meant to appease Golkar, which had demanded that civil servants be allowed this right.

Ryaas Rasyid, the head of the government's team that drafted the political bill, said on Monday the government's latest offer was that civil servants be allowed to join political parties "but they must take leave without the state's stipend".

"The three other factions had accepted the offer, Golkar is the sole holdout," said Ryaas, who is also the director general for regional autonomy at the Ministry of Home Affairs, in a telephone interview with The Jakarta Post.

Legislator Djufrie Asmoredjo of the United Development Party (PPP) has threatened that his faction would boycott the deliberation if Golkar pushed ahead with its demand. Should this threat materialize, the bill will be rendered null.

Political expert Andi A. Mallarangeng, who is also in Ryaas' team, had urged the public -- mainly the press and students -- last week to press on the House not to yield to Golkar.

Kristiadi echoed the sentiment.

He said the offer was a setback and was a dangerous move.

"Maybe Ryaas (who represents the government in the deliberation) has been under Golkar pressure," Kristiadi speculated.

Kristiadi spoke of the danger of "manipulation" in allowing civil servants to become members or executives of political parties -- even if they were required to take leave without a state stipend.

He recalled the practice of House Speaker Harmoko of conducting the "Ramadhan Safari" when he was both minister of information and Golkar chairman under Soeharto's New Order regime.

For years, Harmoko traipsed across the country every fasting month under the pretext of his duty as a minister, but while actually garnering support for Golkar.

Kristiadi said there used to be a stipulation that an official take leave when involved in a political party. In practice, "they took their power on tour with them" to campaign for their parties, Kristiadi told the Post.

"It's dangerous. We must apply pressure so this is not allowed to happen again," Kristiadi warned. "They're old tricks."

Kristiadi also argued that for the sake of "creating a new model" for the country's future democracy, the bureaucracy must simply be made neutral in politics.

The nation has learned tough lessons in the past when members of the bureaucracy were allowed to join political parties, he said.

"The bureaucracy became compartmentalized, harming people's interests because many of its members were working to promote their own group interests first," he said. (aan)