Public pressure called for to neutralize bureaucracy
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)