Because Officials Feel Ruler, Mahfud MD Calls Bureaucratic Reform Not Optimal

Mahfud MD (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs (Menko Polhukam) Mahfud MD said bureaucratic reform must be carried out to implement excellent service to the community. However, this practice has many problems due to the mindset of the bureaucrats and the commitment of the leadership.

This was conveyed in the National Seminar on Bureaucratic Reform, 'Improving the Implementation of Bureaucratic Reform in Regional Governments through the Commitment of Provincial and Regency/City Government Leaders,' which was held on Wednesday, November 1.

"There are problems that have caused the implementation of the reform to not run optimally, including the mindset of the bureaucrats and the commitment of the leadership," said Mahfud when delivering his speech which was broadcast online on the YouTube of the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs.

Mahfud said there are still officials who position themselves as not public servants until now. As a result, bureaucratic reform is hampered and the community is disadvantaged due to slow services and practices of corruption, collusion, and nepotism.

"The mindset of bureaucrats who still place themselves as rulers are not public servants, as people who ask to be served but do not want to serve, such as causing slow service, complicated procedures, and an inherent culture of affiliation that can encourage the practice of KKN," he said

In addition to the mindset factor, Mahfud said that another thing that hinders bureaucratic reform is the commitment of the leader.

"Leaders must have a commitment to modernizing the bureaucracy, including through the application of information systems, simplifying complicated procedures, and accelerating services to the community," said the former Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court (MK).

Furthermore, Mahfud said that this bureaucratic reform has actually been going on for 11 years since Presidential Decree No. 81 of 2010 was made. However, due to the obstacles he mentioned, there are still 59 districts/cities that have not done it procedurally.

"This means that these districts/cities have not submitted an independent assessment of the implementation of bureaucratic reform so that the KemenPAN-RB can not be evaluated," he said.

Furthermore, he also mentioned that there were 6 regencies/cities that this year did not submit their assessments. On this condition, Mahfud then reminded governors throughout the country to encourage and carry out coaching. The goal is that this bureaucratic reform can be implemented quickly.

"I remind the governors as representatives of the central government in the regions to encourage and develop regencies and cities that have not implemented bureaucratic reform and evaluate what obstacles have caused the regions to have not implemented bureaucratic reform," he said.

"Furthermore, (the problem, ed) is submitted to the central government, in this case, it is technically handled by the PAN-RB Ministry and the Ministry of Home Affairs so that a solution can be found together from time to time," he concluded.