Minister backs UI’s award for Saudi King

Jakarta, NU Online
The state-funded University of Indonesia’s widely criticized decision to confer an honorary doctorate on Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has been defended by a top government official.

Education Minister Muhammad Nuh said on Tuesday that the decision was solely up to the university and should not have sparked such an uproar.

“It is within the university’s authority to grant honorary degrees,” he said prior to a cabinet meeting at the State Palace.

“Many universities have done likewise, not just UI, and it’s never been a problem before,” he was quoted by the Jakarta Globe as saying.

He added that while the UI had “their own procedures and mechanisms” for conferring honorary degrees, his ministry would “gladly serve to bridge any differences” arising from the decision.

“The University of Indonesia must have considered all the criteria before awarding the degree and if they believe he deserves it, that’s fine,” Nuh said.

A firestorm of criticism erupted after Gumilar Rusliwa Sumantri, the UI rector, traveled to Mecca last month to confer the doctorate on Abdullah, not long after Indonesia imposed a ban on sending migrant workers to Saudi Arabia amid increasing anger over their ill-treatment.

Nuh conceded that the university could have timed its move better, in light of negative public sentiment toward the kingdom.

“It would have been better had they considered the timing and the social conditions,” he said. “That’s my view.”

The incident has also been cited by Gumilar’s critics among UI staff as just the latest in a long series of problems with the rector’s governance. In a lecture on Monday at the University’s School of Economics, Emil Salim, a prominent professor and former environment minister, said the deluge of criticism leveled against Gumilar clearly indicated a “thirst for better governance.”

Speaking at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, Emil said the honorary degree fiasco had served to highlight a lack of transparency that was characteristic of Gumilar’s management style.

“The problem with his governance is the lack of transparency, because he doesn’t involve others [in decision-making],” he said.

He added that honorary degrees for three other individuals — from Japan, Turkey and Brunei — were also conferred without clear grounds.

“The degree-granting process for all four of these individuals was the same — neither transparent nor accountable. This needs to be fixed,” Emil said.

“We don’t know the rector’s policy [direction for the university]. Without transparency, how can he lead?”

Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam, who along with Nuh has been appointed a mediator to help resolve the dispute between Gumilar and the UI board of trustees (MWA), said the trustees’ role needs changing.

“The rector has changed so the MWA should also change,” he said. “The issue here is good governance. If there are financial problems involved, Gumilar is willing to give a written statement to clarify things.”

Nuh said he and Dipo would do their best to try to settle the matter.

“We hope the problem gets solved by itself ,” he said. (dar)