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strong>Aug. 14, Online

National Awakening Party (PKB) chairman Muhaimin Iskandar has said that political party officials who have been appointed ministers do not need to leave their posts because they can still fulfill their ministerial duties, despite holding strategic positions in their political parties.

Muhaimin, who is also manpower and transmigration minister, made the remarks in response to a statement from Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) president-elect Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo, who previously said that those who had been appointed ministers had to leave the positions they originally held in political parties.

Your comments:

In a democratic system, which Indonesia established successfully as the third-largest democracy in the world, an appointed minister must stay in his party and should keep his assigned posts.

However, he is obliged to govern for everybody in Indonesia, not only for the party'€™s interest.

Hansuei Meili

If you devote 100 percent of your time to the ministry then the party doesn'€™t really need you. When you say the party only takes a little time, you now have lessened the 100 percent figure. If the deputies and assistants take care of your duties again, the party doesn'€™t need you.

I think we all know affiliation and support of a party for a minister has led to some rather large favors being paid to party members in the past. This is another step by Jokowi to divide the influence of corruption from those that can give and those that take. Good move.

X Simaging

They must leave the political party. It is not only because of duty and responsibility, but the most important thing is to maintain individual integrity and professionalism and prevent any political influence from any political parties.

Mounte Cristo

Where I come from, ministers commonly also hold important party functions and it is useful for legislative support, so I am not necessarily siding with Jokowi here.

But of course the posts take up some capacity and saying I am 100 percent devoted to the ministry is either rubbish, or the party should be concerned about him not doing anything there, too, or the guy simply skipped the math class on percentages.

Kantisini

I guess that the reality is not that, '€œ[...] the party should be concerned about him not doing anything'€, but instead that the party is delighted to have got rid of him by getting him kicked upstairs to a ministry and so out of their hair!

Terry McAsee