Such a consolidation of power was aimed at ensuring the government could smoothly implement its agenda over the next five years.

While a consolidation of power would make the government more effective, it would potentially weaken the country’s democracy if it lacks a checks-and-balances mechanism, experts have said.

The likely posture of the upcoming Cabinet was revealed publicly in the past two days when candidate ministers were summoned to the State Palace in Jakarta to talk with the President.

After taking the presidential oath of office on Sunday, Jokowi spent two days inviting dozens of high profile people to fill the ministerial positions in his upcoming Cabinet.

Those invited ranged from professionals like Gojek founder Nadiem Makarim and former Constitutional Court chief justice Mahfud MD, to politicians like Golkar Party chairman Airlangga Hartanto, as well as Tjahjo Kumolo and Yasonna Laoly, both politicians from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

The Gerindra Party chairman and Jokowi’s rival during the 2019 presidential election, Prabowo Subianto, also went to the palace and claimed afterwards that the President asked him to help “strengthen the Cabinet [...] regarding the country’s defense”.