Susilo told to pick professionals
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.