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Jokowi reasserts control over next Cabinet
Following weeks of lobbying, jockeying and speculation, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo appeared to reassert control over the Cabinet minister selection process for his second term on Wednesday by announcing that the lineup has been finalized, though he stopped short of naming names
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ollowing weeks of lobbying, jockeying and speculation, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo appeared to reassert control over the Cabinet minister selection process for his second term on Wednesday by announcing that the lineup has been finalized, though he stopped short of naming names.
Jokowi claimed that around 55 percent of the appointments were his own choice, while the remaining 45 percent were political party suggestions.
He also said the sub-Cabinet position of attorney general, which is currently held by NasDem Party politician Muhammad Prasetyo, would be filled by a professional rather than a party appointee.
The President further signaled that there were unlikely to be additional parties from outside his coalition accommodated in the Cabinet, given that his camp already controlled around 62 percent of seats in the House of Representatives. “How many more do we need?” he said.
Speculation about Jokowi’s new Cabinet has been rife since the General Elections Commission (KPU) confirmed him and running mate Ma’ruf Amin as the official winners of the 2019 election in June. The maneuvers of the Gerindra Party, led by losing presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, have strained the ruling coalition as members have shown resistance to accept new members in the camp.
Jakarta-based pollster Populi Center director Usep S. Ahyar said Jokowi’s announcement seemed to be geared toward answering public criticisms of his current Cabinet.
“Jokowi has heard the public aspirations for there to be a higher proportion of professionals in the Cabinet, especially in strategic positions,” he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday. “The attorney general position, for example, is a very important position that requires impartiality and thus should not be given to a party politician.”
The political parties in the government coalition seemed to take Jokowi’s somewhat sudden announcement in stride, saying that the Cabinet was fully the prerogative of the President, while at the same time claiming credit for some of the President’s new changes.
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) deputy secretary-general Arif Wibowo said that, despite the claimed 55-45 proportion, he was confident that the party would get the most positions in the Cabinet.
In a speech at the PDI-P’s national congress last Thursday, chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri had called for the party to get more than four seats due to its victory in the legislative elections, to which Jokowi acquiesced.
“The names [of the new Cabinet ministers] are in [Megawati’s] pocket,” Arif told the Post.
NasDem, which has appeared to be in a growing rift with the PDI-P in recent weeks, said it had no problem with losing the attorney general position to an independent professional.
“Whoever it is we will await Pak Jokowi’s announcement,” NasDem secretary-general Johnny G. Plate said on Thursday.
NasDem has also been the most vocal among Jokowi’s coalition parties in opposing additions to the ruling coalition.
Johnny said the chances of Gerindra, as well as the Democratic Party and the National Mandate Party (PAN) — two other parties from the opposing camp that have expressed interest in joining the government — were “slim”.
“We are not in a position to request [Cabinet seats], but we communicated our vision about food sovereignty, energy sovereignty and economic development based on Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution,” Gerindra spokesman Dahnil Simanjuntak said.
