President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to swear in seven ministerial deputies Wednesday, but their identities have not yet been revealed, according to the state secretary.
State Secretary Sudi Silalahi emphasized Monday that the nominees for ministerial deputies under consideration by the President were civil servants and "do not come from the ministry where they will be appointed as ministerial deputy."
"They *ministerial deputy nominees* are career officials. They come from a wide range of ministries. I would like to stress that these are people who have built a career in the civil service," he said at the State Palace on Monday.
According to Sudi, the President is still assessing nominees and has yet to decide on which ministries would have ministerial deputies.
"This has not yet been finalized, and that is why I have yet to let you know. But the number of ministerial deputies should be six or seven," he said.
During his stay in Thailand to attend the ASEAN Summit two weeks ago, the President said he would likely appoint ministerial deputies in six ministries considered to have high workloads. They are the Education Ministry, Agriculture Ministry, Finance Ministry, Trade Ministry, Transportation Ministry and the Foreign Ministry.
The six or seven ministerial deputies will be sworn in on Wednesday, "The inauguration will be conducted by the President or by somebody who is delegated to do so," Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Radjasa said.
Hatta's statement covered speculation that the President would likely appointed politicians and professionals to the ministerial deputy positions.
Deputy chairman of the Golkar Party Burhanuddin Napitupulu said his party has lobbied the President to appoint party cadre Cicit Syarif Sutarjo as deputy to the transportation minister.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's choice of deputy ministers is believed to favor individuals who are capable of helping push internal reform and clearing obstacles that hinder the implementation of the central government's policies.
Presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal said Tuesday the President was still selecting the appropriate people to fill the deputy ministerial posts and would unveil the names in the near future.
"The top-priority policies often face the strongest resistance," Dino said, justifying the need for the appointment of deputy ministers.
The President expects the deputy ministers will be very useful when making political decisions, Dino added.
Hatta, who has, in the past, been entrusted by the President to lobby political parties and professionals to select his ministers, said the new ministerial deputies would be sworn in by the President on Wednesday before he left for Singapore to attend the APEC meeting.
Reliable sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Anggito Abimayu, now head of the fiscal analysis board at the Finance Ministry, would be appointed as deputy to the finance minister while Chatib Basri would be deputy to the trade minister.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has given signals that Anggito would likely be appointed her deputy and only smiled when asked to confirm the rumor.
Susilo Utomo, a political analyst at Diponegoro University in Semarang, said the appointment of career officials to the ministerial deputy post signalled that they would not be replaced if the President reshuffled his cabinet in the future.
"If the Cabinet is reshuffled, the ministerial deputies will not replaced because their position is considered permanent *for five years*," he was quoted as saying by Antara.
Referring to other countries like the United States, China and the Philippines, Susilo said deputies were appointed in strategic departments which were considered overburdened.
"The strategic departments include the Foreign Ministry and the ones in the economic sector," he said.
The deputies could represent their ministers when attending cabinet meetings and international events but in general, they were in charge of internal affairs at their own departments, he said.
Susilo, however, said the President should also limit the number of ministerial deputies for efficiency.
He criticized the Cabinet as being too big, comparing it to the United States cabinet, which has only 15 ministers and several ministerial-level state officials.
"The appointment of new ministerial deputies is really an additional cost to the state budget," he said.
