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Jakarta Post

SBY tells Jokowi's team to get permission to meet with Cabinet

Although President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has voiced his commitment to ensuring a smooth transition of power, the outgoing President seems irked by the swift maneuvers of president-elect Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo's transition team

Ina Parlina and Sita W.Dewi (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, September 6, 2014 Published on Sep. 6, 2014 Published on 2014-09-06T10:40:54+07:00

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A

lthough President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has voiced his commitment to ensuring a smooth transition of power, the outgoing President seems irked by the swift maneuvers of president-elect
Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo's transition team.

Yudhoyono told a plenary Cabinet meeting that any meetings or coordination between Jokowi's transition team and his administration must be cleared by the Coordinating Economic Minister Chairul Tanjung, Coordinating Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto and State Secretary Sudi Silalahi ' the three points of contact in his Cabinet agreed to with Jokowi in their recent Bali meeting.

Yudhoyono stressed that coordination between his Cabinet and the team was necessary as they had different duties and responsibilities.

'I instruct all of you to help Pak Jokowi and his team in preparing for their duties in the next administration,' Yudhoyono said to his ministers during the meeting.

Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam also reminded Cabinet members and institutions heads in a circular issued on Sept. 1 that any proposals to communicate and coordinate should be submitted first to the two coordinating ministers and state secretary.

Earlier on Friday, Dipo argued the circular was necessary as he found that members of the transition team and those claiming to be team members had taken action without coordinating with the three points of contact. 'There must be rules because [I] have received reports of people directly communicating with [certain] ministries,' he said.

During the Cabinet meeting, Yudhoyono, however, also reminded his ministers, as well as Jokowi's team, not to point fingers at each other and also lamented that he did not receive the same assistance from former president and Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri during the power transition in 2004.

  • Coordination meetings must be cleared first
  • Jokowi doesn't mind SBY's call for 'orderliness'
  • President reminds both sides to not point fingers at each other

After failing to convince Yudhoyono to share the burden of raising fuel prices, Jokowi said that he was ready to raise the price of subsidized fuel to reduce the subsidy that had long prevented the government from allocating more funds to development, although doing so might taint his popularity.

Earlier this week, the transition team held a meeting with Vice President Boediono to discuss plans to modify some programs already being carried out by the outgoing government, including the ambitious Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesian Economic Development (MP3EI), as well as the structure of the presidential institution. The meeting, however, did not cover the contentious issue of raising fuel prices.

Jokowi, however, said he does not mind Yudhoyono's call for 'orderliness.'

'If I am required to get permission from [Djoko Suyanto] and Pak Dipo to coordinate, I will get it.'

The transition team was scheduled to meet with Chairul Tanjung on Friday but the meeting was later canceled.

Transition team deputy head Andi Widjajanto denied that the canceled meeting had anything to do with Yudhoyono and Dipo's calls. He told Antara news agency that the meeting was postponed until next Monday merely due to technical matters.

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