Menteri dan Partai Politik [Ministers and Political Parties]

Abstract

An opinion article by Miftah Thoha, professor of public administration, in the daily Kompas, with an illustration by Didie SW, written as president-elect Joko Widodo was forming his cabinet. The author traces the history of filling ministerial posts in Indonesia: the era of Bung Karno and Bung Hatta, when ministers were chosen for their expertise and statesmanship, including non-party figures such as Djuanda, Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX, Bahder Djohan, and Moh Yamin in the zaken kabinet (cabinet of experts); the period of liberal democracy, when political parties were highly decisive; Guided Democracy, which began to invite the army into government; and the New Order, which made the reputation of parties utterly disgraced and handed ministerial seats to Golongan Karya, the army, and technocrats. He compares practice in Germany, the United States, Japan, Britain, and Australia, and then asserts that in a presidential system the appointment of ministers is the prerogative of the president, which must be based on competence, expertise, and moral character, and that ministers who come from parties must relinquish their party leadership because they work for the state, not for their party.