Right man in the wrong place

Arnold Baramuli appears to have totally reformed the Supreme Advisory Council (DPA), which he heads. Whereas during the Soeharto administration, the DPA chairman, Soedomo, presented his advice to the president only once a month, Baramuli meets with President B.J. Habibie almost every week. Whereas in the past such meetings lasted for only half an hour at the most, Baramuli's meetings with President Habibie often go on for hours.

With Baramuli as the council's chairman, meetings with the Cabinet are not always held at the Bina Graha presidential office. On a number of occasions Baramuli has requested that Cabinet ministers meet at the DPA offices in order to get better input. Lately, important policy measures taken by President Habibie have often been made public through Baramuli, rather than through Minister/State Secretary Akbar Tandjung. The most recent example of this was the decision to investigate former president Soeharto.

From the point of view of empowering the DPA, what Baramuli is doing deserves to be commended. From the point of view of the proper functioning of the state apparatus, however, Baramuli's acts interfere with the functions of other state institutions. Such an empowerment of the DPA thus hampers the proper functioning of other institutions. This, of course, is a matter of proper job description and coordination.

Frankly, considering Baramuli's present maneuverings, he appears better fit to be a vice president, a minister/state secretary or a minister of home affairs. It seems a pity for Baramuli to confine his overflowing energy to serving in the DPA. As a counselor who seems to be very much trusted by Habibie, Baramuli could ask to be given an executive post. It could be, however, that Baramuli is too modest to tell Habibie that (in his present position) he is the right man in the wrong place.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta