Susilo told to pick professionals

M. Taufiqurrahman and Puji Santoso, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Pekanbaru

President in-waiting Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono should dismiss calls for the inclusion of politicians in his cabinet and instead fill key posts with professionals to create an effective government, analysts say.

Political analyst Ikrar Nusa Bakti of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) said Susilo should first hand-pick individuals who were capable of helping him solve the country's myriad problems.

"First find those who are capable enough to assume the ministerial job, it doesn't matter if he or she happens to be a member of a political party. But capability must come first," Ikrar told The Jakarta Post.

However, he said Susilo could confer a few posts in his cabinet to representatives from political parties which had supported his election bid, to ensure their perpetual support.

"This is to prove that political parties can still function as vehicles for contesting government posts," he said.

In his election bid, Susilo won the backing of his Democratic Party, the Crescent Star Party, the Prosperous Justice Party and several smaller parties that failed to meet the threshold of a 3- percent share of seats in the House of Representatives. Susilo also got some tacit support from leaders of the National Awakening Party and the National Mandate Party, although these parties officially stayed neutral.

During much of the three decades of the New Order rule, most cabinet ministers were technocrats. Soeharto's early governments were relatively effective, thanks in part to the loyalty shown by his aides.

With no major parties gaining the majority of seats in the House since the 1999 elections, all presidents in the reform era have had to form coalition cabinets to accommodate the interests of political parties. Under incumbent President Megawati Soekarnoputri, parties competed in elections for cabinet posts.

Ikrar predicted it would not be the pro-Susilo parties that would hinder Susilo in his selection of candidates.

"There are the bulk of people in his campaign team, in the capital and in some provinces, who have demanded key posts in the cabinet on the grounds that they have done much for Susilo's victory. Susilo has a lot of debts to pay and he cannot belittle (his supporters)." Such calls would mount in the coming days, he said.

Transparency International Indonesia (TII) secretary general Emmy Hafild, however, said strategic cabinet posts should be delegated to professionals who had no ties with political parties.

"Strategic ministerial posts that oversee government assets must be filled by non-partisan (members) who are capable and honest, so that the state assets will not be misused," she said.

Emmy said Susilo should use the same consideration when appointing cabinet posts that could spearhead the fight against the country's endemic corruption.

"The future attorney general's position must be filled by an individual who has a wide knowledge about the country's law and is committed to the corruption eradication drive," she said.

As for the National Police chief, Emmy said although the prospective candidates for the post had to be from within the police corps, the best leader would be from a division seen as less-corrupt, such as from the Police Academy.

Meanwhile, in Pekanbaru, Riau, the former minister of home affairs under the B.J. Habibie administration, Syarwan Hamid, suggested Susilo consider appointing ministers who hailed from the province.

"Population-wise, Riau may mean nothing but it is a resource- rich province and the (likely) president-elect must take this into account," he said, adding that the demand did not reflect any personal longing for a cabinet post.

The General Elections Commission (KPU) computerized vote- counting result on Monday showed that with 104 million of the estimated 120 million votes counted, Susilo had garnered 61 percent of the vote to Megawati's 39 percent.