V

ice President Jusuf Kalla has confirmed that President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo discussed a possible Cabinet shake-up during his meeting with political party leaders in the ruling coalition but said that no decision had yet been made.

The Vice President maintained that Jokowi had in fact decided against any imminent change to his Cabinet line up.

'€œWe did [discuss] politics and the Cabinet reshuffle was also part of the conversation. The President said that now is not the time for a reshuffle,'€ Kalla told reporters on Friday.

Kalla said that Jokowi declined to make a decision regarding a cabinet reshuffle after considering a number of issues, including his plan to attend several high-profile international events.

The President is set to attend the two-day G20 Leaders Summit in Antalya, Turkey, which will kick off Sunday, before continuing his trip to Malaysia to join the 27th ASEAN Summit and its related conferences. Kalla himself will fly to the Philippines to attend the APEC Economic Leaders Forum next week.

The G20 Summit gathers the world'€™s 20 largest economies to implement previous agreements and ensure inclusive growth among member economies. The Malaysian regional summit will have ASEAN member states officiate the start of a long-awaited regional economic grouping and discuss matters related to regional security.

In addition to a number of international commitments, Kalla said that domestic issues had influenced the President'€™s decision to nix the plan for another Cabinet reshuffle this year.

'€œThe local elections are coming up and there are many other things to consider. The state of the economy must also be considered. If it is impossible to make changes [soon], we'€™ll do it another time,'€ he said.

Earlier this month, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung hinted that Jokowi might hold a meeting with the leaders of the parties in the ruling coalition.

Kalla also dismissed rumors that the meeting had been set up at the last minute.

On Thursday night, the United Development Party'€™s (PPP) Surabaya congress-elected chairman Muhammad '€œRomy'€ Romahurmuziy said that party leaders from the pro-government Great Indonesia Coalition (KIH) had convened a meeting with Jokowi and Kalla at the State Palace.

Romy said Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri, NasDem Party chairman Surya Paloh, Hanura Party chairman Wiranto and National Awakening Party (PKB) chairman Muhaimin Iskandar had joined the meeting.

However, Romy did not confirm discussions related to a possible reshuffle. '€œ[I can'€™t] reveal every detail,'€ he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Romy said the meeting focused on a number of issues including the renewal of political support for the Jokowi administration'€™s economic policies.

He said the meeting also discussed the possibility of renaming the Great Indonesia Coalition (KIH) in order to depart from a dichotomy between the coalition and the opposition Red-and-White Coalition (KMP). Such a move might possibly open the door for other parties to join the government.

Speculation over another Cabinet shake-up has been rife since September following the National Mandate Party'€™s (PAN) decision to join the pro-government coalition, a move seen by many as a way to get Cabinet seats in Jokowi'€™s administration.

PAN leaders, however, were not among those present at Thursday'€™s meeting.

Separately, PAN chairman Zulkifli Hasan claimed that the rebranding of the coalition had also been proposed to Jokowi earlier during a meeting with pro-government coalition leaders.

Zulkifli said that the change was appropriate considering that such a dichotomy was irrelevant and no longer existed in the regions.

'€œI am grateful that the KIH has been dissolved and rebranded. That is what I wanted,'€ Zulkifli said on Friday, as quoted by Antara news agency.

'€” Ina Parlina contributed to the story.