Jokowi summoned on Tuesday several politicians, including Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDI-P) Aria Bima and National Awakening Party's (PKB) Muhaimin Iskandar to the State Palace after revealing that he had finished interviewing all ministerial candidates, a process that lasted from Monday evening through the early dawn hours on Tuesday.

"He agreed to accommodate the PPP in the Cabinet," Aria said on Tuesday after the closed-door meeting at the Palace.

However, he declined to reveal which ministerial seat had been allocated to the PPP, as the party's move to resolve its internal conflict was ongoing.

According to Aria, the ministerial list of candidates had yet to be finalized following the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) finding that several of the 43 ministerial candidates proposed by Jokowi could be implicated in graft cases.

"What I know is that the initial plan is to announce it [the list of ministers] today. But, they haven't reached a conclusion," he said.

The KPK's assessment into the candidates' track records was requested by Jokowi.

Jokowi had previously announced that out of 34 Cabinet posts, 18 would be filled by persons with professional backgrounds, while 16 would be filled by politicians affiliated with the political parties in his Great Indonesia Coalition.

PDI-P executive Puan Maharani said that Jokowi and Vice President Jusuf Kalla would reveal their Cabinet appointments on Tuesday. However, as of Tuesday morning, Jokowi had declined to reveal when and where he would announce his Cabinet members.

'€œI summoned all [minister candidates] until 3 a.m. [on Tuesday]. If you [reporters] were here [at the State Palace], you would know who they were,'€ the former Jakarta governor said.

Meanwhile, Muhaimin declined to comment on the meeting. (nfo)(+++)

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