The loyalty of civil servants

The loyalty of civil servants

Nobody can rule a government for good. Even the Indonesian president is limited by the Constitution to two consecutive terms.

The democratic system has indeed been designed to accommodate changes in government administration.

Government authorities may come and go but one thing remains unchanged -- the bureaucratic line under which the civil servants fall.

It is the civil servants' responsibility to run the daily activities of a government and to dedicate themselves to public service.

They have to work to serve the public, no matter who is president, minister, governor, district head or city mayor.

In other words, they should be neutral and should not be affiliated with any political party. They should not, in any way, get themselves involved in the struggle for power.

However, the case of Aceh is ironic, because it has been alleged that not only government officials but also civil servants are involved in the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM).

As such, their loyalty to the Unitary State of Indonesia is in question.

Only after the discovery of GAM supporters among Acehnese civil servants did the government decide to test them to gauge their nationalist spirit and loyalty to the country.

The plan to hold a nationwide examination of civil servants is scheduled to last from July 1-31, after the arrest of several civil servants and politicians in Aceh for their alleged links to GAM. -- Media Indonesia, Jakarta