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Jokowi’s less powerful allies hope for positions in government
Two days after the Cabinet's inauguration, Jokowi apologized that he could not accommodate all of his allies in the Cabinet line-up, saying that of the 304 names submitted to him, he could only choose 34 ministers and 12 deputy ministers.
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Yusril Ihza Mahendra, head of the Joko Widodo-Ma'ruf Amin campaign legal team, waves to photographers prior to an election dispute hearing in June 2019. (JP/Donny Fernando)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has embraced varied interests from political parties by giving them positions in his administration. But at least three of his allies are still waiting for an offer from the president for strategic posts.
Two days after the Cabinet's inauguration, Jokowi apologized that he could not accommodate all of his allies in the Cabinet line-up, saying that of the 304 names submitted to him, he could only choose 34 ministers and 12 deputy ministers.
The current Cabinet composition excludes three members of the ruling coalition supporting Jokowi's reelection, namely the Crescent Star Party (PBB), the Hanura Party and the Indonesian Justice and Unity Party (PKPI). Those three political parties have failed to obtain any seats in the House of Representatives for the 2019-2024 period as their votes were below the minimum parliamentary threshold of 4 percent set in the 2017 Elections Law.
Other parties that failed to meet the threshold, the United Indonesia Party (Perindo) and the Indonesia Solidarity Party (PSI), meanwhile, have been given the posts of deputy minister along with the former treasurer of Jokowi’s campaign team and the chief of a supporters group.
Among the three, only the PBB is still optimistic that Jokowi will not exclude them. The party’s chairman, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, was the chief lawyer of Jokowi's legal team during the 2019 presidential election dispute at the Constitutional Court when Jokowi’s victory was challenged by rival Prabowo Subianto’s camp.
PBB secretary-general Afriansyah Ferry Noor told The Jakarta Post on Friday that he had met with State Secretary Pratikno to discuss a possible position for Yusril, namely as a member of the Presidential Advisory Board (Wantimpres), deputy minister, ambassador or chief in a government agency.
"We gave Yusril the option of taking [the position as chief of] the National Legislation Center. It matches his expertise,” Afriansyah said.
