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nce touted as a way for Indonesian state firms to go global, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has signaled he is backpedaling on a plan to set up a “superholding” company of state firms in the mold of Singapore’s Temasek or Malaysia’s Khazanah.

Jokowi told a group of chief editors that the government was currently assessing the best business model for state firms to become more efficient and profitable, as some have struggled to keep afloat as they need to remain commercially viable and profitable while providing a public service at the same time.

“A superholding may not be the best option. Look at the performance of Temasek and Khazanah. They’re also having problems in the latest economic conditions. We will try to look out for a new mechanism and study the developments,” Jokowi said on Wednesday.

The President taking a backseat on superholding plans is expected to be a major blow for State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Rini Soemarno, the main campaigner for and the brain behind the superholding idea, and who many have speculated will not be reappointed to Jokowi’s new Cabinet.

Rini, who has frequently been the target of criticism by lawmakers, politicians, state institutions and observers, has been attacked for her decisions in managing state firms that are expected to help advance Indonesia’s economic and human capital development.

The latest of many such incidents saw Rini being accused of disobedience toward the President’s directive temporarily prohibiting ministries from issuing strategic policies, including management shakeups of state firms, as the minister was reportedly planning to call for extraordinary shareholders meetings at publicly listed state giants.

She is also currently being investigated by the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) for her decision to allow several directors to hold double roles in different state firms.

Center of Reform on Economics (CORE) Indonesia research director Piter Abdullah said the superholding plan was not urgent.

“If the government wants to increase state firms’ profitability and make them more efficient, what’s important is that they should maintain each company’s good corporate governance, including maintaining its consistency in choosing professional people to lead the companies and eliminating [government] intervention, among other things,” Piter explained.

Temasek is facing financial pressure to make investment gains from the effects of the US-China trade war and a low-interest rate environment, which is likely to affect return expectations for the longer term, Reuters has reported. Meanwhile Khazanah, not immune to such investment trends, is selling non-strategic assets and dialing back on its offshore presence to raise more cash for government coffers depleted by a fiscal deficit and massive debt from a multi-billion-dollar scandal at state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad ( 1MDB ).

Ruling party and the President’s main supporter the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) also seemed to be skeptical about the superholding idea. “Those who are thinking of forming a superholding must learn from the economic crises in the United States and western Europe,” party secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto wrote in a recent statement.

When contacted by The Jakarta Post, SOEs Ministry business restructuring and development undersecretary Aloysius Kiik Ro said the ministry’s plan to establish a superholding company was still being studied.

“But ultimately, the decision will lie in the President’s hands,” he said, adding that he had yet to hear any instruction to scrap the plan. Even though the idea seems to be in abeyance, Aloysius insisted that the ministry continued to conduct preparations for the superholding, including establishing sectoral holding companies.

There are currently 114 state firms operating in many sectors from plantations to infrastructure and banking to energy. As part of boosting the commercial presence of state firms overseas and in the country, several holding companies have been formed that are expected also to open up more access to funding for business expansion.

The initial idea was for the superholding to act as the ultimate parent company of all the existing and upcoming sectoral holding companies. It would be under the direct supervision of the President.

Some of the existing sectoral holding companies include a fertilizing holding company led by PT Pupuk Indonesia, a cement holding company led by PT Semen Indonesia, a mining holding company led by PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum), an oil and gas holding company led by Pertamina and a plantation holding company led by PT Perkebunan Nusantara III (PTPN III).

More holding companies are also in the pipeline for infrastructure and construction, housing and industrial development, pharmaceuticals, aviation and financial institutions.

SOEs expert from the University of Indonesia Toto Pranoto—who has conducted studies on superholding companies—still stood by the idea of creating the ultimate parent company for all state firms, saying that it could boost Indonesian state firms’ competitiveness. Indonesia could learn from Khazanah if Jokowi changed his mind, he added.

“Khazanah only houses profit-oriented firms and those that still have public service obligations are coordinated under their technical ministries,” Toto said, suggesting that sectoral holdings be continued on for simplified surveillance by the government.