Ryaas quits Cabinet after no response from President

Ryaas quits Cabinet after no response from President

JAKARTA (JP): After receiving no response from embattled
President Abdurrahman Wahid for a month, State Minister of
Administrative Reforms Ryaas Rasyid unilaterally declared his
resignation from the cabinet as of Friday.

"As of today, I declare my resignation from the cabinet, and
my job as minister of administrative reform will no longer be
effective," he told reporters at his office.

He said he made the declaration because the President has yet
to respond to the letter of resignation he personally delivered
on Jan. 2.

Ryaas quit the cabinet in protest of the President's policy,
especially on the implementation of regional autonomy.

He also said he sent on Friday a second letter to the
President and had received confirmation from Bambang Kesowo,
secretary to Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri, that the
letter had been received.

"I have been waiting for a month but no response was given.
It's possible that the President is too busy and has no time to
handle this matter, or maybe it's too small a matter for him to
tackle," he said.

When the President met Ryaas last month he said that he would
not respond to Ryaas' resignation until he had discussed the
matter with Megawati.

Ryaas said he sent the second letter at the suggestion of the
Vice President whom he met on Thursday.

"That is why I wrote the second letter and sent it today," he
said, adding that Megawati supported his resignation from the
cabinet.

Ryaas said however he would still help coordinate matters with
senior officials in the office of minister of administrative
reform until the President appoints his successor.

He said he would go back to the Institute of Administrative
Science and seek permission to undertake research for six months
or a year overseas to write a book on reform in Indonesia.

"Despite my resignation, I will not oppose the government," he
said. (rms)