34 ministers enough, no more deputies needed, analysts say

Irawaty Wardany ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 10/26/2009 1:27 PM  |  National

With 34 ministers already in his Cabinet, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono still wants to have deputy ministers in three ministries, an idea which has readily triggered debate among political observers on whether the proposed new posts are really necessary.

"The current Cabinet membership of 34 is actually *fat' enough without having to add three more deputy ministers," a political commentator from Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic State University, Bachtiar Effendi told reporters after a discussion on Saturday.

Yudhoyono announced the plan to have deputy ministers on Wednesday evening when announcing the lineup of ministers for his new Cabinet.

However Bachtiar considered there were indeed several ministries that needed extra hands due to their wide range of duties such as the foreign affairs, defense and finance ministries.

Should the deputy ministers really be necessary, he expected that the posts would not be established simply to accommodate the interests of parties dissatisfied with the Cabinet lineup so far, "or accommodating interests of people who rendered him a service that *helped* put him into his position for the second time".

But Bachtiar said if Yudhoyono was really committed to bureaucratic reform then he should have reduced the number of ministers because many of them did not even have clear authority or jobs, taking the example of the Office of the State Minister for Disadvantaged Regions.

"I heard it could not even build a bridge in a region because it would need a permit from the Public Work Ministry," he said.

"Won't it be better if it *the Ministry for Disadvantaged Regions* is included as a directorate of the Public Works Ministry? Or the Health Ministry is included with the Social Service Ministry?

"That way we will save on the state budget, especially when their *the ministers* cars are more expensive than *those of* the previous ones."

On the other hand, Bima Arya Sugiarto from Charta Politika was certain that this had nothing to do with accommodating political interests but was merely to help ministers in dealing with their difficult tasks.

"Several ministers have really difficult jobs in the future. That is why they need help from deputy ministers," he was quoted as saying by the Antara news agency.

He predicted that the foreign affairs, home affairs and transportation ministries would get deputy ministerial posts.

Presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said the deputy ministries would be announced as soon as the President returned from attending the ASEAN Summit in Hua Hin, Thailand, which runs from Friday until Monday.

However, he refused to name the deputies and the ministries where they would be assigned.

"Let the President make the announcement, hopefully this week," Dino said.

Bachtiar also questioned the reason behind what he called the "massive replacement" of ministers in the new Cabinet.

"Yudhoyono's re-election means people considered his first administration was quite a success and therefore he doesn't have to make a massive reshuffle. I think he needs to explain his reasons," he said.

"With Yudhoyono's campaign jargon of *Lanjutkan' (continue), why did he have to maintain only 10 percent of his ministers and replace the rest?"

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.