TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Airlangga Hartarto, the newly elected chair of the Golkar Party, must immediately resign from his cabinet seat to avoid conflicts of interest that may emerge should he continue serving as industry minister, a position he has held since July 2016.
Although state ministries law certainly does not prohibit a minister from occupying a high-ranking position in a political party, a ministerial position is not a part-time job. The head of a ministry is in charge of formulating, issuing and implementing policies, and Airlangga is responsible over the whole industry sector.
His performance is bound to be affected for the worse if he continues to hold two important positions concurrently. The potential for conflicts of interest and moral hazard is unavoidable. His divided attention would also be certain to interfere with or cause government programs aimed at developing Indonesia's industry sectors to fail. The public would then suffer the ill-effects of his double position.
As minister of industry, it's crucial for Airlangga to focus on his duties, as Indonesia's Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index rating is still lower than a number of other ASEAN nations, namely Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. The minister of industry must focus on catching up.
At the same time, Airlangga’s party is also demanding for him to restore Golkar’s image. The naming of his predecessor Setya Novanto as suspect in the electronic identity card (e-KTP) trial is evidently a slap in the face for the party. It would be virtually impossible for the party chair to carry out both jobs satisfactorily.
It would also be unethical for him to keep his ministerial position while leading his party, especially because President Joko Widodo has prohibited his ministers from holding concurrent positions from the start. During his campaign in 2014 and later, shortly after he was elected as president, he said, "It can’t be guaranteed that anyone can successfully hold one position, let alone two."
At first, Jokowi stuck to his initial position, even though some of the elite in the party supporting him protested. It was this prohibition on holding two posts that led Muhaimin Iskandar to choose not to become a minister and instead remain as leader of the National Awakening Party. We should demand Jokowi to again prove his commendable consistency following Airlangga’s appointment as chair of the Golkar Party.
If the minister refuses to resign, President Jokowi should dismiss him from the cabinet. Jokowi must uphold his promises. He need not worry that Golkar’s support for him would be withdrawn in 2019 should Airlangga be dismissed from his ministerial post.
Furthermore, the President should request Puan Maharani to choose either her position as minister or her seat in her party’s management. Puan, the current coordinating minister for human development and culture is also the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle’s (PDI-P) head of politics and security from 2015 to 2020. She took on the position after joining Jokowi’s cabinet.
Without holding concurrent positions in their party’s management, ministers would be able to focus on serving the public. Jokowi, too, must stay true to the promises he made to the public, both during his campaign and at the start of his presidency.
Read the full article in this week's edition of Tempo English Magazine
