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ppointments to the Cabinet certainly should take both professional and political considerations into account to establish a highly competent working team with strong political foundations. But the process of working out the best balance between the need to secure maximum policy effectiveness and the imperative of accommodating political realities is quite delicate and complex.

This was the challenge President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla grappled with over the last six days as they had to cope with the division and rivalry within their coalition of parties and to fight against pressure to trade Cabinet portfolios for support from political parties.

The composition of the Cabinet, which Jokowi revealed Sunday and simply called the '€œWorking Cabinet'€, may not satisfy all parties as many of the 34 ministers are not familiar figures. But we can rest assure that all the ministers have passed '€œdue diligence'€ by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) for their integrity.

It may not be a perfect Cabinet, but we think it is the best working team Jokowi could set up to cleanse the system of corruption within the government bureaucracy. The ministers will act as agents of change to help him balance the high moral ground, which got him elected president, with the compromises demanded by the national realpolitik. Integrity, after all, has been the bedrock of Jokowi'€™s career in politics.

Yet more encouraging is that when it came to economic management, Jokowi acted correctly in tipping the balance in favor of professionals with impeccable integrity and was not preoccupied with recommendations from party leaders. The President seems to fully realize that it is economic achievements that will decide his legacy.

What the President really needs is not another long list of economic advice nor advisers but an effective program management center, a kind of nerve center, which can quickly fix problems by executive fiat at the highest level.

The chief economics minister, Sofyan Djalil, is highly experienced in the management of the capital market and state companies and has strong leadership qualities. Former deputy finance minister Bambang Brodjonegoro, who was appointed the new finance minister, has from the outset been the best candidate for that portfolio. He is also a former dean of the Jakarta School of Economics, University of Indonesia.

Rini Soemarno, the minister in charge of state enterprises, is also an experienced corporate leader as the former CEO of PT Astra International and trade minister under Megawati Soekarnoputri'€™s administration in 2001-2004. Rachmat Gobel, an industrialist, is well placed to lead the Trade Ministry. Likewise, other ministers in charge of agriculture, manufacturing, energy and mineral resources, maritime resources are also professionals.

Of upmost importance is that Jokowi gives a full mandate to the chief economics minister to coordinate inter-ministerial action. Only this way will the economic team be able to manage economic-policy making and implement coherent and consistent processes.