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resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s Cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday shows that he is strengthening his grip on power, but only time will tell whether this latest move translates into an effective government.

Jokowi scored a big coup in poaching Sri Mulyani Indrawati from the World Bank and appointing her as finance minister. With her impeccable track record, both as economics minister in previous administrations and more recently as managing director of the World Bank, Sri Mulyani will strengthen the President’s anticorruption credentials.

The removal of Rizal Ramli as coordinating maritime affairs minister comes as a relief for other ministers who have been at the wrong end of his public tirades, which he launched as soon as he joined the Cabinet 11 months ago.

Two other moves worthy of noting in the reshuffle is his decision to retain Rini Soemarno as state-owned enterprises minister, in spite of a tireless campaign by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) to get rid of her.

The recruitment of Wiranto, a retired Army general and former chief of the Indonesian Military (TNI), as coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister, raised eyebrows given his tainted past, but understandably, he comes in as chair of the Hanura Party which is part of the coalition government.

The changes this time are more sweeping than in the first reshuffle last August, and they reflect the need to strengthen the Cabinet while accommodating the interests of the addition of two political parties — the Golkar Party and National Mandate Party (PAN) — turning this into a grand coalition government. The entry of Golkar, the second-largest party in the country, in particular acts as a useful counterweight for Jokowi in dealing with the PDI-P and its chair Megawati Soekarnoputri.

With these changes, we can expect far less infighting among Cabinet members, something that has become a hallmark of this administration.

The public bickering, with some using social media to attack one another, inevitably affects their performance, taints the image of the government and at times raises questions about Jokowi’s leadership skills.

Jokowi can count on the support of the House of Representatives, with seven of the 10 factions representing 69 percent of the seats now part of the coalition government. But the downside of leading such a grand coalition is what happens when the parties do not see eye-to-eye with Jokowi, who unlike past presidents, does not control any of the political parties. This will be a test of his leadership skills, an assessment of how he negotiates between the different interests of the coalition members.

Although it is his prerogative to select his Cabinet, he still has to make compromises through the process of give and take with the various factions in the coalition government. This second reshuffle lineup, however, is as close as he can possibly get to a dream team.

Is it going to deliver? We shall wait and see. Of course, we wish him and his new team good luck.