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Assistants to the assistants: Multiple staffers thwart Jokowi's bureaucratic reform
There are 17 political appointees in Jokowi’s second-term Cabinet, three of whom are chairmen of parties in his coalition.
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President Joko Widodo (center) introduces his new, young, staffers at the State Palace in Jakarta. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
T
he government’s decision to set up teams of expert staffers at several ministries and other state agencies has sparked concerns among observers who fear the policy is a setback to the government’s bureaucratic reform agenda.
Social and political research institute Cakra Wikara Indonesia deputy chairman Dirga Ardiansa said the recent inauguration of teams of expert staffers and special staffers at various government institutions was an indirect result of the appointment of politicians as ministers in President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s Indonesia Onward Cabinet.
“This is part of the effort [by the ministers] to secure the political interests of minister-level officials. They have political interests that need to be secured [such as] generating resources for the interests of their parties,” said Dirga. “There needs to be people who can secure their interests."
Miftah Thoha, a public administration expert at Gadjah Mada University (UGM), said Indonesia’s relatively large bureaucracy was a result of the large number of ministries, currently 34, in the country, which he said led to one of the largest Cabinets in Southeast Asia.
Miftah also expressed concerns over Jokowi’s apparent move to utilize the position of assistants or staffers to accommodate his coalition.
For example, Jokowi has agreed on assigning two members of the NasDem Party, Taufiqulhadi and Zulfan Lindan, as special staff for Agrarian and Spatial Minister Sofyan Djalil and Communications and Information Minister Johnny Plate, respectively. Arya Sinulingga, a former member of the Perindo Party, has also been given the nod as a special staffer for State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir.
Both NasDem and Perindo are political parties that supported Jokowi in the 2019 presidential elections.
