Prosperity, democracy and justice: The code to SBY's new Cabinet

Endy M. Bayuni ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 10/22/2009 12:06 PM  |  Headlines

Political pundits baffled by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's decision to appoint more politicians in the Cabinet to assist him in his second term should turn to his "Prosperity, Democracy and Justice" inauguration speech to find some answers.

The biggest mystery in many people's minds is that, in spite of winning the presidential election with such a large majority, and in spite of his Democratic Party becoming the largest faction in parliament, why does he need to parcel out so many seats to the other political parties that make up his grand coalition government?

With so much political capital in his hand - much more than he had five years ago - you would assume that he would be bargaining from a much stronger position to ever need to parcel out that many seats to minority partners in the coalition.

Pundits have suggested that more seats should be given to professionals, people who are truly experts in their respective field to ensure a more effective and efficient Cabinet than the one that assisted him from 2004-2009.

Some names who helped Vice President Boediono draft the new government's first 100-day program, economists such as Chatib Basrie and Raden Pardede, seemed like obvious choices. They are now conspicuously missing from the latest list.

Instead, SBY sprang a big surprise by giving away the lion's share of the seats to people who were picked more for their political representation than their expertise. He chose political accommodation over effectiveness.

Going by the list, he has given five seats to his Democratic Party, four to the Islamist Justice and Prosperous Party (PKS), three each to Golkar and the National Mandate Party (PAN) and two each to the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the United Development Party (PPP).

The coalition partners in parliament got more than they deserved. They may have helped him in the re-election campaign, but their contribution could not have been so large to warrant that many seats.

SBY is turning what is cons-titutionally a presidential system of government into one that looks more like the European parliamentary type with coalition governments.

Golkar's last minute entry, having earlier challenged him in the presidential election, has bolstered the coalition's strength in parliament to 75 percent.

This still doesn't explain why he opted for more politicians, and in the process squandered the immense political capital he enjoys at the start of his second term.

Is there a hidden agenda behind this?

One possible explanation - and this is just a theory - is to look for clues in his inauguration speech, specifically when he referred to the three pillars of his vision for the next five years: "Prosperity, Democracy and Justice".

As great and sound bite as this phrase may seem, one would normally distinguish between means and ends. Prosperity and justice are ends, while democracy is a means to those ends.

But the President decided to mix it up, and for good measure, inserted democracy in between the two other words. Mysterious?

This is something that Robert Langdon, the main character in the Da Vinci Code and again in Dan Brown's latest thriller The Lost Symbol, would immediately spot.

By rearranging the order to "Democracy, Justice and Prosperity", one is quick to identify that these are the names of the two major parties in the coalition, the Democratic Party (which stands for democrats) and the PKS (which stands for justice and prosperity).

Are we to think that we are seeing the beginning of the amalgamation of the largest nationalist secular party with the largest Islamist party?

What is the end game of this interplay?

Perhaps Dan Brown can help write the rest of the story for us. And let's hope that it is going to be a happy ending for the nation. God save us.

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