Dave Laksono (dpr.go.id)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has abandoned a plan to reshuffle his Cabinet as postelection developments have seen political parties changing their directions and the antigraft body standing still in its probes into ministers.

The Golkar Party, one of the country’s largest parties, holding three ministerial posts in the Cabinet, said there were indications that the President might want to keep his current lineup until his first term ended in October.

The party’s deputy secretary-general, Dave Laksono, said on Tuesday Jokowi might change his plan to do so as next year’s state budget was still being discussed at the House of Representatives.

Dave said Jokowi conveyed in a meeting with members of his supporting parties last month that the President needed the current ministers to oversee the process.

“The 2020 state budget deliberation isn’t finished yet. So there is [the President’s] interest to ensure that the budget is in line with his policies. If the ministers are changed, it will be hard for him to control the policies and the program that had been planned,” Dave told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Dave said Jokowi only had very little time to do a Cabinet reshuffle after the state budget was deliberated, and it would also be ineffective as he was currently forming the next Cabinet.

“It’s almost impossible. Unless there are some ministers who are unable to complete their term because of something,” he said.

Jokowi is believed to be planning a reshuffle for a number of reasons: to address concerns about a number of Cabinet members currently under investigation by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and to accommodate members of the opposition camp who wish to join the ruling coalition.

Speculation over the Cabinet shake-up has been rife ever since the KPK delved into graft cases implicating three members of Jokowi’s Cabinet: Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi of the National Awakening Party (PKB), Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin of the United Development Party (PPP) and Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita of the NasDem Party

Presidential spokesperson Johan Budi said in May that a Cabinet reshuffle might take place “sometime after the Idul Fitri holiday in June”.

However, there has still not been a shake-up.

The KPK is still processing the cases in which the ministers are allegedly involved, but it has yet to press charges against them.

Jokowi and his ruling coalition, on the other hand, have their hands full with the possibility of opposition Gerindra Party joining the government. Former rival Prabowo Subianto and his party created a new rift in the Jokowi camp when it began maneuvers to join the government after it was confirmed that the President would serve his second term.

NasDem, which has seen Enggartiasto, one of its two ministers in the Cabinet, grilled in graft cases related to his import decisions, is among those that have vehemently refused Gerindra over concerns that it would cost them their Cabinet seats in Jokowi’s second term.

NasDem Party secretary-general Johnny G. Plate refuted that Jokowi had a reshuffle plan, saying that it was only a mere rumor from the beginning.

“That’s just a rumor. From the beginning it was only gossip,” Johnny said, adding that the parties had not discussed the matter with Jokowi yet.

Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko said on Tuesday that he did not know about the details of the plan or the reason why the President did not do it in June.

“I can’t answer,” he said.

Johan, who is set to be inaugurated as a lawmaker from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), however, said the reshuffle plan was not completely off the table.

But he emphasized that only Jokowi knew exactly when it would happen.

“The authority to replace, appoint and choose the ministers is the President’s authority, but of course he will accept input, not only from the coalition members but also from others,” he told the Post.

If the reshuffle did take place, it would be the fifth in over four-and-a-half years of Jokowi’s administration.

Jakarta-based Voxpol Center Research and Consulting executive director Pangi Syarwi Chaniago said the fact that none of those ministers had been named suspects was one of the reasons the reshuffle had yet to take place.

“The KPK is the only reason Jokowi would reshuffle the Cabinet, he doesn’t want any polemic ahead of the new term. It’s not because of the postelection political dynamics,” Pangi said.

State Islamic University (UIN) political expert Adi Prayitno voiced a similar opinion, saying that the current political dynamics left little time for Jokowi to change the current ministers.

“A Cabinet reshuffle may not occur unless there is an extraordinary event. The change is also not due to the minister’s performance, but just to fill vacant positions,” Adi said.

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