Taufik's appointment smacks of nepotism
Taufik's appointment smacks of nepotism
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The role of the President's husband, Taufik Kiemas, in the
government is coming under public scrutiny after he lead a
delegation of Cabinet ministers on an official visit to China
last week.
Critics have claimed that without any official explanation
acceptable to the public, his appointment as a state delegate
amounts to nepotism.
State/Cabinet Secretary Bambang Kesowo, the most authoritative
official in charge of state protocol, refused to disclose
anything when journalists asked him for comments.
State Minister of Administrative Reform Feisal Tamin said
Indonesia had yet to draw up a regulation on the husband of the
president taking an overseas trip.
Taufik is a legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), which his wife Megawati Soekarnoputri
leads, though he has no posting in government.
Known as a gas-pump billionaire, Taufik's official trip to
Beijing from Dec. 17 to Dec. 20 was to negotiate a liquefied
natural gas (LNG) deal between the two countries and follow up on
the reopening of the Bank of China in Indonesia.
The Indonesian Embassy in Beijing has described the visit as a
success. Officials of the two countries signed three memorandums
of understanding on business cooperation.
Critics say that Taufik should quit his legislative seat if he
wants to concentrate on a job in government so as not to muddle
the two different functions.
A legislator from Golkar Party, Ade Komaruddin, said that it
was okay for the President to appoint any person she considered
capable of conducting any special mission for the country.
"But, to do that there should be public accountability and
official reasons to avoid any negative presumption. There should
be an explanation on the capability of the person," Ade said.
He added that without transparency, the appointment would be
reminiscent of the then president Soeharto appointing his
daughter Siti Hardijanti Rukmana as minister of social affairs.
However, the public were able to accept the appointment of
Zannuba Arifah Chafsoh Rahman, the daughter of former president
Abdurrahman Wahid in 1999 as a persona assistant to help her
nearly-blind father.
"As long as there is reasonable explanation it is fine?" Ade
said.
The Indonesian Embassy in Beijing in a statement made
available to The Jakarta Post on Wednesday, called Taufik the
Indonesian President's Special Envoy.
He led five ministers in the visit, Minister of Energy and
Natural Resource Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Minister of Trade and
Industry Rini M.S. Soewandi, Minister of Settlement and Public
Works Soenarno, Minister of Maritime and Fisheries Rokhmin Dahuri
and State Minister of State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi.
The delegation met with the Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji
and other senior government officials.
An official from PDI Perjuangan told the Post that the
President had officially appointed Taufik as a special envoy to
lead the delegation.
The official said that the President was once asked about
Taufik's role and she replied that everything was legal.