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Jokowi consolidates power with new Cabinet lineup

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.

Marchio Irfan Gorbiano, Ghina Ghaliya and Kharishar Kahfi (The Jakarta Post)
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Jakarta
Wed, October 23, 2019

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Jokowi consolidates power with new Cabinet lineup Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto (left) and deputy chairman Edhy Prabowo arrive at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Oct. 21 to talk with President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo regarding the upcoming Cabinet. (JP/Seto Wardhana)

T

he upcoming Cabinet in President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s second term appears to be a consolidation of power with the President accommodating varied interests from political parties, including those of his former rival.

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”.

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