Candidate and former President Megawati Sukarnoputri on Thursday warned that the involvement of several ministers in the campaign teams of the two other candidates could affect their ability to meet their administrative responsibilities.
The ministers, she said, could also abuse their power in supporting their candidates.
“Success team members shouldn’t come from the cabinet because their ministerial duties would be affected,” the former president said at the opening of her campaign’s media center in South Jakarta.
The ministers’ work on the campaign teams could also create conflict within the government, as some support President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s bid and others Vice President Jusuf Kalla.
“There should be no divisions in the cabinet because all of them should be united and shouldn’t fly any party’s flag,” Megawati said. “A minister is owned by neither the president nor the vice president.”
Separately, legal expert Irman Putra Sidin warned the ministers against using their position to aid candidates in the July presidential poll.
Irman said that conflicts of interest might arise among the ministers who joined campaign teams, and he stressed that they should not use their authority to bend election rules.
Meanwhile, presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng said that having ministers on campaign teams was acceptable as long as they took leave of their official duties at points during the campaign season.
“That is fine,” Andi said. “And there is a rule about it saying that the ministers can take time off when they join the campaign. On ordinary days, they work for the president during the daytime and undertake their political tasks in the evening.”
He said that there would not be a problem as long as the ministers were able to assist the president when called upon.
As the incumbent, Andi added, Yudhoyono had an interest in having the government run well during his entire term.
He also said he disagreed with the idea that Yudhoyono would benefit from being the incumbent in the race.
“As proof of that, we saw an incumbent presidential candidate lose in 2004. The important thing is the incumbent’s performance,” Andi said, adding that Yudhoyono only used state facilities while on state business and not for his political activities.
State Secretary Hatta Rajasa heads Yudhoyno’s success team, which includes Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Freddy Numberi, Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik and State Minister for Administrative Reform Taufiq Effendi. State Minister for the Acceleration of Development in Underdeveloped Regions Lukman Edy and State Minister for Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Suryadharma Ali are also members.
Industry Minister Fahmi Idris heads Kalla’s team, which also includes State Minister for National Development Planning Paskah Suzetta and Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Aburizal Bakrie.
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