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Jokowi's new Cabinet: NasDem's Syahrul Yasin Limpo confirmed for ministerial seat
Syahrul, a former South Sulawesi governor, confirmed after the meeting that Jokowi had asked him to help strengthen the Cabinet but did elaborate on which ministerial position he would serve.
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NasDem Party politician Syahrul Yasin Limpo arrives at the State Palace on Tuesday. (JP/Donny Fernando)
T
he NasDem Party, which has recently been at odds with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), has officially secured in a seat in the new Cabinet after NasDem Party politician Syahrul Yasin Limpo met with the President at the State Palace on Tuesday.
Syahrul, a former South Sulawesi governor, confirmed after the meeting that Jokowi had asked him to help strengthen the Cabinet but did elaborate on which ministerial position he would serve.
“I was not told about the position, but the President asked me a lot about how to manage the 260 million Indonesians […] and how could we fulfill their basic needs in agriculture, plantation, forestry and fisheries,” Syahrul told journalists.
The news appears to have changed NasDem’s previous stance of joining the opposition if no other party was willing to oppose the government, which came after Jokowi summoned his former rival, Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto, to the State Palace on Monday.
Prabowo later told journalists that the President wanted him to play a role in the defense sector.
NasDem’s secretary-general Johny G. Plate responded by saying that the party would take up the role of a constructive critic to Jokowi’s administration if no one else was going to. However, he added that if there was an opposition, NasDem “will be a government supporter”.
The apparent tension between NasDem and the PDI-P began in late July when PDI-P chairman Megawati met with its erstwhile opponent Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto, apparently as a reconciliatory gesture after he lost the 2019 presidential election to Jokowi.
The next day, NasDem chairman Surya Paloh met with Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan, whom many see as a political opponent of Jokowi. He reportedly told Anies during the meeting that NasDem might back the Jakarta governor in the 2024 presidential election.
Syahrul assured that his visit to the State Palace on Tuesday had been approved by Surya. He said that even with a ministerial seat, NasDem would “still remain critical” of the Cabinet.
Jokowi continued to summons possible members of his second-term Cabinet on Tuesday, after inviting high-profile figures, including professionals, for a string of meetings at the State Palace the day prior.
In addition to Syahrul on Tuesday, Jokowi also met with NasDem politician and his first-term Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar; Golkar Party politician Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, who served as social affairs minister in Jokowi’s first-term Cabinet, PDI-P’s Juliari Batubara and United Development Party (PPP) chairman Suharso Monoarfa.
Jokowi also summoned Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who had confirmed that she would continue serving as finance minister, as well as Basuki Hadimuljono, who was the public works and housing Minister in Jokowi’s first term.
The President is expected to announce the final lineup of his Cabinet on Wednesday.
