A statement conveyed by a National Mandate Party (PAN) politician, claiming the party had obtained Cabinet positions, could be perceived as an indirect push on President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo to carry out a Cabinet reshuffle, an expert said on Monday.

'€œProposing names of candidates for the Cabinet is a normal thing. But pushing for a Cabinet reshuffle, by claiming publicly that his party had obtained several Cabinet seats, could be considered improper,'€ said Nusantara Independent Survey Institution executive director Yasin Mohammad as quoted by kompas.com in Jakarta on Sunday.

He made the statement in response to PAN politician Aziz Subekti'€™s claim that he had received information from the Presidential Palace that the party had obtained two seats in President Jokowi'€™s Cabinet. The two PAN ministers, he claimed, would be Taufik Kurniawan and Asman Abnur.

Yasin was certain that the politician'€™s move was just a strategy to corner Jokowi into appointing the two PAN members to his Cabinet.

'€œHis statement has made a new tumult and created an impression that the party has a thirst for power ['€¦],'€ said Yasin.

With such pressuring repeatedly committed by PAN, he said, it was no surprise that President Jokowi had issued comments several times, saying that he did not want to be dictated to nor pushed about over a Cabinet reshuffle.

Yasin further said that PAN should have been aware of its position as a new member in the Jokowi administration'€™s coalition. Instead of pushing for a Cabinet reshuffle, the party should first contribute by helping Jokowi'€™s administration win the House of Representatives'€™ support for its development programs.  

Yasin said it was entirely President Jokowi'€™s authority to appoint his Cabinet members.

'€œIt'€™s unethical for Jokowi to be pushed for a Cabinet reshuffle. [Parties] must accept whatever decision the President makes,'€ he said.

Earlier, PAN chairman Zulkifli Hasan said he had reprimanded Aziz Subekti, who aired the speculation over Cabinet positions for PAN members. He said PAN had hundreds of party officials, thus, it was quite normal to have one or two officials act improperly, such as by speculating about ministerial seats for party members.

Zulkifli asserted that the Cabinet reshuffle was President Jokowi'€™s prerogative. He further said that PAN had never proposed to Jokowi that any of its members become ministers in his Cabinet.

'€œWe have 7 million party members and thousands of officials. Who said that PAN was preparing its members to become ministers?'€ said Zulkifli as quoted by Antara in Sukabumi, West Java, on Saturday.

He said that any statement that said PAN had proposed that its members become ministers was not true. The former minister further said he himself had never nominated any PAN members to become ministers.

Zulkifli said he had long served in the government, in both executive and legislative institutions, and thus fully understood constitutional law, including the fact that a Cabinet reshuffle is the sole right of the President.

'€œI have long asserted that, as Cabinet reshuffle issues that have continued to develop, PAN has never proposed names of minister candidates, let alone asked the President to include [its] members in the Cabinet, although our party has officially joined with the government coalition,'€ said Zulkifli. He also denied speculation that he was interested in a Cabinet position, saying that he was more comfortable with his position as People'€™s Consultative Assembly (MPR) speaker, which constitutionally was at a same level as the President. (ebf)(+)

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