President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is believed to be planning to remove several key figures from his economic team as he works to shape his second Cabinet following his reelection in April.

Speculation is rife that at least three of his ministers — Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno — would likely fail to retain their seats in the Cabinet.

Masinton Pasaribu, a spokesman of Jokowi’s campaign, said he believed that the President had given a hint on which ministers would be shown the door during Monday’s Cabinet meeting.

In the meeting, Jokowi reprimanded Jonan and Rini for their contribution to the US$2.14 billion trade deficit recorded between January and May.

“Be careful [...] the highest rates [of rising imports] come from [your ministries],” he said, referring to the fact that the main contributors to the deficit were high oil and gas imports.

The President also called Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar and Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister Sofyan Djalil out on their failure to help boost investments.

Masinton, a member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said Jokowi’s reprimands were signals that the four ministers mentioned would lose their jobs. “Some of the previous presidents since Soeharto’s era did that. The ministers who got reprimanded usually ended up not joining the next Cabinet.”

Rini, once known as a close aide to PDI-P matriarch Megawati Soekarnoputri, has long been standing on shaky ground.

The PDI-P, which leads the ruling coalition and of which Jokowi is a member, has repeatedly called for her firing, accusing her of failing to properly manage state-owned enterprises.

Darmin, who is to turn 71 in December this year, is also believed to be on the way out, given that the President has said he is looking to recruit young people to his Cabinet.

A top businessman who declined to be named said that Darmin was considered “too old” and that he would likely be replaced by a younger professional.

Golkar Party chairman Airlangga Hartarto and media mogul Chairul Tanjung have been tapped as possible replacements by several politicians.

The businessman also speculated that Jonan and Rini would likely be replaced, saying that only 10 of the 34 ministers would either remain in their posts or be moved to other ministries, including Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono.

The State Palace previously said that the President would reshuffle his Cabinet after Idul Fitri in June, allegedly over concerns that some Cabinet members had been implicated in graft cases.

They were Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi of the National Awakening Party (PKB), Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin of the United Development Party (PPP) and Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita of the Golkar Party.

Presidential spokesman Johan Budi Sapto Prabowo said that Jokowi had met with his coalition leaders to discuss future candidates, but denied rumors that several people were about to be replaced. Still, he said that there would “certainly be changes” in the next Cabinet since the President had also aimed to include the younger people on his new teams, among other reasons.

NasDem Party secretary-general Johnny G. Plate said he also refused to believe that Jokowi’s criticism was a signal for the replacement of the NasDem-backed Siti. Jokowi, he added, had only asked the ministers to immediately boost their capacity in order to improve the economy.

Sofyan Djalil, on the other hand, laughed when responding to The Jakarta Post’s question about the possibility he would be removed from the Cabinet. “The decision of who will be a minister is fully within the President’s prerogative,” Sofyan said.

Yose Rizal Damuri of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies said that Jokowi should form his Cabinet promptly as the current wait-and-see economic stance had forced investments and policy-making to stagnate.
“We have endured a wait-and-see economic situation for far too long. We have to cut that off right now by giving a breath of fresh air to the Cabinet,” he said.

He added that the President should have brought “new faces [to Cabinet], people with greater ability to implement the existing economic policies”.

Jokowi is to begin his second term in office on Oct. 20.

Institute for Development of Economics and Finance economist Eko Listiyanto, meanwhile, called on future ministers to better collaborate across ministries in their decision-making processes.

He cited the ministry’s tax allowances, which could have been complemented with better logistics with the help of the ministries of industry and transportation to attract more investors.

“So when such policies are being implemented, the government would avoid coming up with half-baked decisions instead of a wholesome one,” Eko said.

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