T

he Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the political party of President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo, says it is seriously concerned about the performance of ministers in the Cabinet and says the President should consider a Cabinet shake-up soon.

PDI-P executive Hendrawan Supratikno said some ministers had performed below expectations, while others had defied orders from the political parties that nominated them.

Hendrawan, however, declined to give details as to who should be given the axe in the planned Cabinet reshuffle, which was expected to take place later this year.

'€œWe won'€™t reveal details to avoid accusations of subjectivity. Also, we are still having intense discussions on this issue,'€ Hendrawan said.

Politicians and political analysts expect Jokowi will replace ministers, especially those overseeing the economy, for their poor handling of the country'€™s economic issues.

State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno, also known to be a close confidant of Jokowi, has been singled out.

Executives from political parties in both the ruling Great Indonesia Coalition and the opposition Red-and-White Coalition have agreed that while the performance of ministers in politics and law enforcement was good, leadership change within ministries dealing with economic affairs was crucial.

Many have accused Coordinating Economic Minister Sofyan Djalil, Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro and Industry Minister Saleh Husin of not doing a good job.

Many have also expected that a planned Cabinet shake-up would target Jokowi'€™s other close aides '€” Cabinet Secretary Andi Widjajanto and Presidential Chief of Staff Luhut Binsar Panjaitan.

While Andi is seen as standing between Jokowi and party politicians, Luhut'€™s presence is believed to have excluded Vice President Jusuf Kalla from the decision-making process in the State Palace.

'€œIt'€™s a concern [among us] because it has disrupted the coordination between the President and Vice President,'€ NasDem Party executive Viktor Bungtilu Laiskodat said on Luhut'€™s role.

Luhut, a retired general, has been assigned to help Jokowi identify strategic issues that the country faces, as well as assisting the President in communicating with the public.

He is also tasked with identifying the achievements and results of the country'€™s development, thus involving himself in examining the ministries'€™ performance.

Luhut'€™s allegedly excessive authority is seen to have reduced Kalla'€™s authority. '€œIt seems it'€™s time to reassign him [Luhut],'€ Viktor said.

Jokowi, however, remained non-committal about the Cabinet reshuffle plan, although Kalla had openly spoke about the plan.

State Secretary Pratikno said the State Palace had never discussed a reshuffle as the President was continually evaluating his ministers'€™ performances.

'€œWe'€™ve never talked about a reshuffle. What we do is daily [routine] evaluations under the leadership of the President and Vice President on how to boost the performance of all ministries and ensure that programs run successfully,'€ he said.