TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Analysis: No posts for PDI-P, NasDem in Prabowo’s bloated cabinet
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
President-elect Prabowo Subianto (sitting, center left) and vice president-elect Gibran Rakabuming Raka (sitting, center right) pose with cabinet minister candidates during a briefing at Prabowo’s residence in Hambalang, Bogor regency, West Java, on Oct. 16. (AFP/Handout/Gerindra Party)
N
ewly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto has sworn in Indonesia’s largest cabinet since the New Order era, which features politicians from his large electoral alliance, technocrats and familiar faces from the previous cabinet. However, neither the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) nor the NasDem Party have any representatives in the bloated cabinet, despite their assurance of supporting or at least being friendly to the government.
Ministerial positions have long been used as a political reward for a president’s allies. It is for this reason that many believe Prabowo reappointed several ministers from his predecessor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s cabinet. Analysts speculate that the move was intended to politically repay Jokowi’s all-out support for Prabowo during the presidential race earlier this year.
Interestingly, the NasDem Party, which supported the opposition presidential candidate Anies Baswedan but eventually joined Prabowo’s large-tent coalition in April, was not awarded any ministerial posts. NasDem chairman Surya Paloh claimed that he turned down the ministerial seats offered by Prabowo to show that the party did not endorse the notion of political dowries.
NasDem’s presidential election ally, the National Awakening Party, on the other hand, was awarded three ministerial posts for joining Prabowo’s ruling coalition.
NasDem deputy chairman Saan Mustopa added that refusing cabinet positions did not mean that the party withdrew its support from Prabowo’s administration. On the contrary, Saan, who is also a House of Representatives deputy speaker, reaffirmed the party’s support for Prabowo through the legislature.
The NasDem party currently leads three House commissions, namely Commission II overseeing home affairs, Commission IX overseeing health, manpower and social security, and the newly formed Commission XIII overseeing human rights. The party faction also currently occupies six deputy chair posts among the commissions.
Meanwhile, the PDI-P’s stance toward the new administration remains in question. Reports of a possible meeting between PDI-P matriarch Megawati Soekarnoputri and Prabowo to discuss the matter circulated prior to the latter’s inauguration on Oct. 20. However, the meeting has never materialized, with PDI-P top brass saying Megawati decided to postpone the encounter due to her health, which was also the reason why she failed to turn up for Prabowo’s inauguration.
