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Analysis: Cabinet shake-up poised to strengthen Prabowo’s coalition
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Jakarta Governor Candidate, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono during his visit to the Jakarta Post office, West Jakarta, Wednesday, 28/12/2016. (/Seto Wardhana)
W
ith less than eight months left in office, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo changed his cabinet team once again to welcome Democratic Party leader Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono on board as agrarian and spatial planning minister, replacing Hadi Tjahjanto, a long-time Jokowi ally who was promoted to the coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister post.
By including Agus in the cabinet lineup, President Jokowi has virtually rewarded the Democratic Party for joining the alliance supporting presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto and his running mate, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who is Jokowi’s eldest son.
Previously, the Democrats positioned themselves among the opposition by backing Anies Baswedan’s presidential bid in hopes that Agus would run with Anies as his vice-presidential candidate. However, Anies preferred National Awakening Party (PKB) leader Muhaimin “Cak Imin” Iskandar over Agus, prompting the Democrats to shift to the Prabowo-led alliance.
Jokowi’s latest maneuver came as no surprise given that he hosted former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), Agus’ father, last October in the Bogor Palace. Following that meeting, rumors circulated that Agus would join the cabinet sometime in November.
During the inauguration ceremony at the State Palace on Wednesday, Jokowi claimed that he would serve as a bridge among the country’s many political parties. Agus’ entry into the cabinet certainly gives the impression that Jokowi is looking to further consolidate the parties in Prabowo’s alliance and strengthen their ties to the President.
Moreover, Jokowi may also be taking on the key role of expanding Prabowo’s political party alliance ahead of the incoming administration after having met with NasDem Party chairman Surya Paloh on Feb. 18. NasDem was the first political party to rally behind opposition figurehead Anies despite being part of the government coalition, a move that eventually cost the party two NasDem ministers in the Cabinet, namely former communications minister Johnny G. Plate and former agricultural minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo, who both exited the cabinet due to their involvement in graft cases.
According to Poltracking Indonesia executive director Hanta Yuda, Jokowi is strategically using divide and conquer in an attempt to break up the alliance supporting the Anies-Muhaimin ticket.
