The President sees the two parties as breaking points of consensus they had agreed to.

Yudhoyono’s strong reaction to Golkar and the PKS is inseparable from their decision to demand a House of Representatives tax inquiry a few weeks ago. Despite the failed motion, Yudhoyono was furious with the deserting coalition members.

President Yudhoyono and his Democratic Party was even in consensus with the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), which was previously known for being critical of the government and which, unpredictably, rejected the proposed tax inquiry.

The great possibility of party coalitions through a Cabinet reshuffle really grabbed the public’s attention, while the tax mafia issue itself faded away.

The important questions now are: Does the coming Cabinet reshuffle benefit the public in terms of corruption eradication?

Or, if the current party coalition remains, will it have a positive effect on society? President Yudhoyono must carefully address these questions amidst his apparent success in turning public attention toward a Cabinet reshuffle.

Indonesia’s latest political scene suggests that a potential Cabinet reshuffle is a threat to disapproving coalition members. Judging by political ethics, coalition members standing against their “superiors” are indeed unethical. Commitment and togetherness appear to be a binding consensus for all the ruling coalition members.

With democratic principles, however, political tension and disparities within the ruling coalition are acceptable.

“Yudhoyono must realize that the lineup change will not automatically set the stage for quieting the voices against him.”

Moves made by Golkar and the PKS to propose a tax inquiry committee reflect public expectations more than superficial political popularity seeking.

It is crystal clear that Yudhoyono viewed the ruling coalition as a form of power sharing, political investment and pragmatism. This approach accounted for desynchronized political interests among the coalition members.

It is perilous to democracy because the coalition simply plays a political role in legitimizing the majority party’s interests but gives no room to various frictions and polarizations at the executive, legislative and judicial levels.

People understand that a Cabinet reshuffle is the President’s prerogative. The problem bubbles to the surface as Yudhoyono prefers political favors to performance when sacking his ministers.

If a reshuffle happens, people will easily infer that President Yudhoyono neglected the people’s expectations about ethical standards in selecting ministers.

The abortive tax inquiry, therefore, should not be the driving force for the Cabinet reshuffle.

Failure to do so will make the appointment of Cabinet posts at the expense of other critical assets such as candidates’ management skills, professionalism and — no less important — strong communication skills with opposition parties.

When it comes to announcing a new Cabinet line-up, the reshuffle should be aimed at creating fresh momentum for the Yudhoyono administration to improve amid growing concerns about political instability resulting from the aborted proposed tax inquiry and his indecisiveness.

It must not be a half measure or else President Yudhoyono will be deemed as doing nothing dramatic in the Cabinet reshuffle. Bringing a younger, fresher look and weeding out the non-performers and those with questions about their probity need to be major priorities. In other words, disregarding such priorities will only put a question mark over the President Yudhoyono’s political management.

What is the Cabinet shake-up for if the public thinks the government does not have a fresher look but remains where they were?

How can the government grab people’s attention as they realize the non-performers in some instances are just moved to equally high-profile ministries?

At the end of the day most analysts will concede that an extremely disappointing Cabinet reshuffle is impending.

Yet President Yudhoyono must realize that the lineup change will not automatically set the stage for quieting the voices against him and ending his leadership crisis. The personnel shakeup is only a necessary condition but not a sufficient condition for breaking the deadlock.

President Yudhoyono is required to carefully listen to what the people really want instead of relying on his Democratic Party people.

It is urgent to set up a communication channel to let opinions flow from the bottom up, rather than the other way around.

The current political dynamics ought to be oriented towards the people’s interests. Do not let political cooperation in terms of a Cabinet reshuffle justify public suspicion that the coalition is merely manifesting collusion-based oligarchy and transactional politics rather than a substantive coalition.

Remember! A Cabinet reshuffle is not a typical revolving-door shakeup designed to do favors for the President’s associates and aides but should be for the people.

There has been fear that political drums beaten by ruling elites increasingly let the people’s interests drown.  The mega-scandal of the tax mafia has not been touched, but replaced by the Cabinet shake-up instead.

The general public’s distrust now runs deeper that a reshuffled Cabinet will happen instead of the difficult process of disclosing the country’s embarrassing tax scandal.


The writer is a graduate of the University of Canberra, Australia, and teaches at Andalas University in Padang

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