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Analysis: Prabowo to reward ministerial seats to old, new allies
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Minister of Defense, who is also President-elect Prabowo Subianto (center) greets invited guests witnessed by Coordinating Minister for PMK Muhadjir Effendy (second left), Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan (second left), Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto (second right), and Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs Hadi Tjahjanto at the Annual Session of the People's Consultative Assembly and the Joint Session of the House of Representatives - DPD in 2024 at the Nusantara Building, Parliament complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Friday, August 16, 2024. (Antara/Aditya Pradana Putra)
W
ith the State Ministry bill passed in the House of Representatives and Prabowo Subianto's presidential inauguration quickly approaching, the names of potential members of the new cabinet have been widely circulated.
In addition to the political parties nominating Prabowo’s presidential bid in the Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM), other parties closely related to a possible reconciliation and some reputable organizations in the country are also expected to join the incoming government.
Now that the revised Law on State Ministry has come into force, Prabowo has more freedom to decide the number of ministries within his incoming cabinet. A few other government bodies, such as the National Nutrition Agency, will also be added, answering to the president.
The Golkar Party, the second largest party in the House with 102 seats, can hope for more than five ministerial posts after it conceded the People’s Consultative Assembly speakership to Prabowo's Gerindra Party. This transactional practice has been denied by Golkar’s secretary general, Sarmuji.
Golkar is the largest party in the coalition, with Gerindra second with 86 House seats. Other political parties in the KIM coalition, the National Mandate Party (PAN) with 48 seats and the Democratic Party with 44 seats, also have to wait for Prabowo’s decision regarding which ministerial posts he would entrust to them.
Several parties that endorsed Prabowo's presidential candidacy but did not meet the parliamentary threshold, including the Gelora Party and the Indonesian Solidarity Party (PSI), may be offered positions in the incoming cabinet. Gelora is a splinter party of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), which is also tipped to join the Prabowo administration.
Furthermore, the inclusion of other political parties outside the KIM coalition, such as the NasDem Party, the National Awakening Party (PKB) and PKS, would intensify the competition between them to include their respective affiliated figures in the prospective government.
