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More additions as Jokowi inaugurates new Cabinet members
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo inaugurated Wednesday six new ministers and five new deputy ministers to complete his first Cabinet reshuffle in his second term, despite a previous pledge to keep the bureaucracy lean.
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President Joko Widodo announces six new ministers after the Cabinet reshuffle at the State Palace on Tuesday. (Presidential Palace/Muchlis Jr.)
P
resident Joko "Jokowi" Widodo inaugurated on Wednesday the six new ministers that he had named the previous day and then went on to introduce five deputy ministers to complete his first Cabinet reshuffle of his second term, in what analysts view as a bid to accommodate more allies in his political circle.
Wednesday’s inauguration marked the first time the Jokowi administration assigned deputy ministerial positions to the Law and Human Rights Ministry, the Health Ministry and the Agriculture Ministry since he assumed office in 2014. These positions were last filled during the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono administration and were erased in an effort to make the state bureaucracy leaner.
The President named Dante Saksono Harbuwono as the new deputy health minister, while the Cabinet also welcomed Harvick Hasnul Qolbi, formerly a Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) treasurer, as the new deputy agriculture minister. Meanwhile, Gadjah Mada University (UGM) criminal law professor Edward OS Hiariej was tapped as deputy law and human rights minister.
Speaking after the inauguration ceremony, Dante said that Jokowi had instructed him to speed up the ministry’s spending, the stick which the President used to criticize former health minister Terawan Agus Putranto in June.
“Considering the situation, budget spending must be more effective […] it is the lynchpin that allows us to handle this pandemic in a swift manner,” Dante told reporters at the State Palace.
He was also instructed to prepare the government’s mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign; by beginning the campaign as soon as it is possible, the country stands to “gain [the benefits of] better herd immunity”, the medical practitioner said.
Read also: Jokowi hopes vaccinations will start in January
