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Big names may fall off Jokowi's Cabinet
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.
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From left: Sofyan Djalil (JP/Jerry Adiguna), Siti Nurbaya Bakar (JP/PJ Leo), Ignasius Jonan (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama), Rini Soemarno (JP/Arief Suhardiman), Darmin Nasution (JP/Arief Suhardiman) (JP/File)
P
resident 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.”
