Ratih installed as presidential secretary
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid installed his private assistant Ratih Kaniawan Hardjono in the newly created post of presidential secretary on Friday.
Not only was the new post a break from tradition, but the ceremony itself was also rare because a president does not normally personally install a first echelon official.
No less than eight Cabinet members attended the ceremony, which is also unusual. The attendance of ministers is usually reserved for grand state affairs such as the inauguration of an ambassador or military chiefs of staff.
Abdurrahman said his decision to appoint Ratih, a former Australia-based correspondent for Kompas daily, was a part of his plan to return the State Secretariat to its original function of keeping state archives.
"This is very important because otherwise the State Secretariat would slowly become a state within a state," the President said in his speech.
It was State Secretary Ali Rahman who conducted the official protocol of reading the text of the oath which was repeated by Ratih.
Among the Cabinet members in attendance was State Minister of Settlement and Territorial Development Erna Witular, as well as Chief Justice Sarwata.
Ratih worked for Kompas daily before becoming Abdurrahman's private assistant earlier this year when he was still Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) chairman.
In Decree No.141, issued on Monday, the President stipulated that the presidential secretary is responsible for preparing state functions led by or attended by the President and Vice President, domestic and overseas tours by the President and/or his wife.
She is also in charge of press affairs, administrative matters, the handling of about 500 civil servants working for the presidential household chief and maintenance of the presidential palaces.
"I realize the task is very heavy, that is why I need someone whom I deeply trust to handle the daily activities," said the President.
Ratih's inauguration signifies a shakeup in the composition of senior palace officials.
Abdurrahman also signed on Monday a decree establishing the installation of NU activist Sayuti Asatri as Ratih's deputy, while Djoko Setiono will be Ratih's assistant.
Wahyu Maryadi, a journalist for Tempo weekly news magazine, was made head of the protocol bureau.
Abdurrahman described Wahyu as a close friend, while Wahyu quipped that the President liked his massage technique.
"The duty of a protocol officer is to make my duty easier and not chain me (to my duties)," Abdurrahman said as he complained of the rigid state protocol.
The President also appointed Dharmawan Ronodipuro, a career diplomat, as presidential press secretary.
Abdurrahman also promoted Arifin Junaidi, outgoing NU deputy secretary-general as bureau chief of general affairs and palace administrative affairs.
With the new lineup at the palace, the now former presidential household chief Kemal Munawar, who held the post for only two months, will return to the foreign ministry. His position, along with four other positions, was dissolved by the president.
Abdurrahman is due to sign more decrees which will abolish several positions at the State Secretariat, including the military secretary, deputy state secretary and vice secretary of the Cabinet. (prb)