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Jokowi, SBY meeting sparks speculation of Democrats joining cabinet
The meeting took place amid intensifying speculation of an imminent cabinet shake-up following a Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigation into an alleged graft case that reportedly involves Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo.
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President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo (right) hosts former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Oct. 10, 2019, days before the latter was inaugurated for his second term. (Courtesy of BPMI Setpres/Rusman)
The recent meeting between President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has sparked speculations that the current administration may welcome the country’s largest opposition party into its fold following the latter’s decision to back the presidential bid of the President’s staunch supporter Prabowo Subianto.
Jokowi hosted Yudhoyono on Monday afternoon at the Bogor Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java. The two politicians discussed politics behind closed doors before the President was seen ushering Yudhoyono back to his car.
“[We] met for almost an hour. We chatted about many things, especially about 2024,” Jokowi told reporters on Wednesday, referring to next year’s election.
The President, however, asserted that the subject and details of Monday’s talk with Yudhoyono were “confidential”.
The meeting took place amid intensifying speculation of an imminent cabinet shake-up, following a Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigation into an alleged graft case that reportedly involves Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo. The antigraft body is said to have named the minister a suspect in the case.
Syahrul is the second minister from the pro-government NasDem Party to be implicated in an alleged graft case. Former Communications and Information Minister Johnny G. Plate, also a senior NasDem member, was dismissed from the cabinet following his arrest in May over his alleged involvement in a graft-ridden government telephony project.
