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View all search resultsPrabowo, Megawati ties in question after cabinet reshuffle
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President Prabowo Subianto reacts as he speaks about a recent wave of nationwide protests during a press conference on Aug. 31 alongside political party leaders, including Megawati Soekarnoputri of the sole de facto opposition party (third right), at the State Palace in Jakarta. (AFP/Yasuyoshi Chiba)
P
resident Prabowo Subianto’s decision to remove two officials affiliated with Megawati Soekarnoputri, the matriarch of the sole de facto opposition the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), from his administration in the latest reshuffle has raised questions about the future of relations between the two politicians.
In what observers saw as an attempt to consolidate power, Prabowo shuffled his cabinet twice this month and removed some ministers and high-ranking officials, including coordinating politics and security minister Budi Gunawan and National Public Procurement Agency (LKPP) head Hendrar Prihadi.
Budi, a close confidante of Megawati, lost his position in the cabinet over his alleged failure to control the late-August deadly unrest fueled by economic inequality that became the largest crisis Prabowo faced since taking office nearly a year ago.
Hendrar, meanwhile, is a prominent PDI-P member who had led the procurement agency since 2022 during the second term of the administration of former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s, when Jokowi was still a PDI-P member.
Hendrar has held numerous strategic roles in PDI-P’s regional structure. He currently leads its Semarang office in the party’s traditional stronghold of Central Java. Last year, Hendrar ran for Central Java deputy governor alongside PDI-P’s governor candidate but lost to the candidate pair that was backed by pro-Prabowo political parties and endorsed by Jokowi, who at the time had already parted ways with the PDI-P.
The cabinet shake-ups came after Megawati’s surprise appearance at the Merdeka Palace on Aug. 30, when she stood alongside leaders of pro-government parties in a show of support as Prabowo announced steps to address demands from protesters, including the cancellations of controversial perks of lawmakers.
The dismissal of two officials affiliated with the PDI-P from the cabinet has sparked renewed questions about the current state of relations between Megawati and the President and the possible shift of PDI-P’s stance towards his administration.
