P

resident Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo made a rare rebuke on Wednesday after a rift between two members of his Cabinet came under public scrutiny and created a challenge for the credibility of his leadership.

While trying to play down the rift, the President reminded his ministers that their main duties were to find solutions for the country'€™s economic problems and to accelerate the implementation of the government'€™s programs.

The President'€™s statement was made after a rift occurred between Vice President Jusuf Kalla and newly appointed Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Rizal Ramli over their different perception of the country'€™s ambitious program to build new power plants to generate an additional 35,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity by 2019.

The conflict began just a day after Jokowi reshuffled his Cabinet last week, when Rizal, one of five newly appointed ministers, strongly criticized the electricity program as unrealistic. The criticism irked the Vice President, known as one of the main initiators of the country'€™s electricity program.

Rizal also criticized the national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia'€™s move to borrow US$1 billion to purchase new aircraft, which he said was too costly for the airline.

Kalla responded to Rizal'€™s criticism by saying that Rizal should first try to understand the problem before making such comments. Rizal, who is known as an outspoken activist and was formerly a coordinating economic minister under then president Abdurrahman '€œGus Dur'€ Wahid, rebuked Kalla and challenged him to a public debate.

The conflicts seemed to escalate early in the morning, when the Vice President'€™s spokesperson issued statements saying it was not wise for Rizal to openly challenge Kalla, who has a higher position in the government hierarchy.

Rizal refused to make any comment on the statement, but instead gave reporters a piece written by activist Adhie Massardi containing strong criticism of Kalla'€™s leadership.

Jokowi apparently defended the electricity program, saying that the development plan was based on the country'€™s growing demand for power.

'€œIf we want the easy one, let'€™s just make a target of 5,000 MW, but I don'€™t want that because 35,000 MW is what we need. Ministers and coordinating ministers should find solutions for every problem hampering investment and ensure that the target is achieved,'€ Jokowi said.

The conflicts were discussed during a Cabinet meeting later in the day, during which both Kalla and Rizal agreed to settle their differences.

The internal spat in Jokowi'€™s Cabinet has raised concerns among legislators. Firebrand legislator Fahri Hamzah, deputy speaker at the House of Representatives and a senior member of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said the onus was on the President to diffuse the tension between Rizal and Kalla, or risk stirring up new speculation about government infighting.

'€œPak Jokowi cannot just sit still and watch these two giants fight it out without [doing anything about it] '€” he is responsible for both the Vice President and the coordinating minister,'€ Fahri said.

He added that neither the market, the business community, nor the wider public should have to witness such unrest within government. '€œSo please settle the distribution of tasks and keep it out of the public eye,'€
he said.

Commenting on the controversy surrounding the new coordinating minister, Fahri expressed appreciation for Jokowi'€™s appointment of Rizal and the other ministers, with hopes that '€œall these heavyweights would be able to coordinate well with each other'€.

Meanwhile, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) stalwart Effendi Simbolon backed Rizal'€™s defiance of Kalla, especially since he said he thought the coordinating minister'€™s argument was justifiable.

Tama Salim and Dewanti A. Wardhani contributed to the story.