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New ministers, new demands
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, like past Javanese leaders, is so obsessed with unity that he has finally brought his former vice-presidential contender Sandiaga Uno into his Indonesia Onward Cabinet.
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resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, like past Javanese leaders, is so obsessed with unity that he has finally brought his former vice-presidential contender Sandiaga Uno into his Indonesia Onward Cabinet. Sandiaga’s arrival epitomizes a complete end to the rivalry that marked the 2019 presidential election.
On Tuesday, Jokowi introduced Sandiaga as his new tourism and creative economy minister and five other new but old faces who will grace the rainbow Cabinet as soon as they are inaugurated on Wednesday. The other political appointees are Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini as the new social affairs minister, Muhammad Lutfi as the trade minister, Wahyu Sakti Trenggono as the fisheries and maritime affairs minister, Budi Gunadi Sadikin as the health minister and Yaqut Cholil Qoumas as the religious affairs minister.
Only last year Jokowi and his running mate Ma’ruf Amin, now the Vice President, fought tooth and nail against Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto and Sandiaga in a bitterly contested race. Jokowi then appointed Prabowo the defense minister in October last year to seal a national reconciliation that expanded the ruling coalition’s control in the House of Representatives.
Sandiaga is in less than a month after his fellow Gerindra Party politician Edhy Prabowo went out. Edhy resigned as the fisheries and maritime affairs minister after the Corruption Eradication Commission arrested him on Nov. 26 for allegedly accepting bribes related to lobster larvae export permits. Jokowi’s choice of Sandiaga means Gerindra still has two ministerial posts, which otherwise could hurt ties between the President and that party.
In fact, in reshuffling the Cabinet Jokowi is trying to maintain the balance of power among the members of his coalition that he established when forming the government for the second five-year term last year. Like Gerindra, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the National Awakening Party (PKB) lost one ministerial seat only to obtain a replacement.
Risma, a PDI-P member, won an appointment in place of fellow PDI-P politician Juliari Batubara who, like Edhy, has become embroiled in a graft case. Many anticipated Risma’s arrival at the national political centrum, but few expected the mayor of East Java’s provincial capital, whose second and final term will only end in February next year, to hold a post which in 2018 was left by her rival Khofifah Indar Parawansa, now the East Java governor.
The PKB has to give up the trade ministerial post, but has been awarded the coveted religious affairs ministerial post. The party leaders were obviously unhappy when last year Jokowi appointed Fachrul Razi, a retired army general, as religious affairs minister.
It is safe to say that the first reshuffle in Jokowi’s second term is intended to consolidate the coalition anew following the arrest of Edhy and Juliari amid the health and economic crises the country is facing. There is an urgent need for Jokowi to address both challenges all at once, which is why he named Budi, who heads the economic recovery task force, the new health minister in place of Terawan Agus Putranto, who has been blamed for the government’s poor response to COVID-19. Budi is among several health ministers in Southeast Asia who have no medical background.
The public do not care about the political deals behind the reshuffle. They are only curious as to whether the new Cabinet lineup can deliver.
