T

he secretary-general of the Democratic Party, Edhie “Ibas” Baskoro Yudhoyono, announced his resignation as a member of the House of Representatives. The youngest son of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he quit the House to enable him to focus on bettering the plight of the Democrats.

Ibas is not the first politician to resign due to party commitments. Pramono Anung resigned as a House member following his appointment as secretary-general of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). Ibas’ fellow Democratic Party member Anas Urbaningrum left the House in 2010 after he was elected the party’s chairman. Before Ibas, the Prosperous Justice Party’s new chairman, Anis Matta, also quit the House.

In practice, serving double duty as a public official and party executive only introduces the possibility of abuse of power. There is a tendency among public officials, including House lawmakers, to raise money for their parties. It’s already an open secret that political parties sitting in the House treat the state budget as a source of party funding.

Party executives who hold public office tend to ignore their state duties, whether in the central government or local administrations, opting to advance their party interests.

Unfortunately, there is no explicit rule that requires a party executive to resign from their party job once they are appointed or elected as a public official. Given the rampant corruption scandals involving public officials who also hold party executive jobs, we need a regulation that separates public office from party jobs.

Public officials must not deal with political matters in order to serve the public. The Constitution clearly stipulates the division of powers, in which state affairs cannot be mixed with the affairs of political parties.

Yohanes Wawengkang
Depok, West Java