Elements both within and outside President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s government coalition are in defensive mode following his recent threat to reshuffle the Cabinet.

However, as the President has yet to communicate his next course of action with political parties that form the government coalition, they have opted to play it low key.

“Political parties in the coalition haven’t met with the President up to now regarding the issue of a Cabinet reshuffle or anything else," Arsul Sani, secretary-general of the United Development Party (PPP), a party in the government coalition, told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Jokowi expressed his disappointment and concern about healthcare programs and the distribution of social assistance for poor people and those seriously affected by the prolonged impact of the COVID-19 pandemic during a Cabinet meeting last month. The President’s fiery speech before the June 18 meeting, in which he also highlighted the lack of a sense of crisis among his aides, has gone viral in the past few days.

Most political parties in the coalition regard it as acceptable for Jokowi to express his disappointment at the Cabinet’s performance, given the poor coordination among his ministers.

Jokowi's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said the President's anger was understandable as several ministers had not shown enough “sense of crisis.”

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