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Jokowi appoints new deputy ministers
President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo inaugurated Wednesday six new ministers and five new deputy ministers to complete his first Cabinet reshuffle in his second term, despite a previous pledge to keep the bureaucracy lean.
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resident Joko "Jokowi" Widodo inaugurated on Wednesday the six new ministers that he had named the previous day and went on to introduce five deputy ministers to complete his first Cabinet reshuffle of his second term, in what analysts view as a bid to accommodate more allies in his political circle.
Wednesday’s inauguration marked the first time the Jokowi administration assigned deputy ministerial positions to the Law and Human Rights Ministry, the Health Ministry and the Agriculture Ministry since he assumed office in 2014. These positions were last filled during the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono administration and were erased in an effort to make the state bureaucracy leaner.
The President named Dante Saksono Harbuwono as the new deputy health minister, while the Cabinet also welcomed Harvick Hasnul Qolbi, formerly a Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) treasurer, as the new deputy agriculture minister. Meanwhile, Gadjah Mada University (UGM) criminal law professor Edward OS Hiariej was tapped as deputy law and human rights minister.
Speaking after the inauguration ceremony, Dante said that Jokowi had instructed him to speed up the ministry’s spending, the stick which the President used to criticize former health minister Terawan Agus Putranto in June.
“Considering the situation, budget spending must be more effective […] it is the lynchpin that allows us to handle this pandemic in a swift manner,” Dante told reporters at the State Palace.
He was also instructed to prepare the government’s mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign; by beginning the campaign as soon as it is possible, the country stands to “gain [the benefits of] better herd immunity”, the medical practitioner said.
Read also: Jokowi hopes vaccinations will start in January
Indonesia was eager to start its vaccination campaign as soon as the vaccine candidates on order were cleared for emergency use. The country has recorded nearly 700,000 confirmed cases and upward of 20,000 deaths, although the true scale of the crisis is believed to be much bigger.
Meanwhile, the Agriculture Ministry’s Harvick said that Jokowi specifically instructed him to maintain the country’s food resilience in the face of the pandemic.
“There were some crucial things that the President ordered me to do, most importantly is [the issue of] future food resiliency during the pandemic. This is a serious issue since the mobility of agricultural products has likely been disrupted,” he said after the inauguration ceremony.
Analysts say the appointments of the three new deputy minister positions under the current administration highlighted the President’s desire to accommodate more allies in his Cabinet.
“Some of the ministries don’t have much urgent need for a deputy minister,” said Firman Noor, the head of the Indonesian Institute of Science’s (LIPI) political research center, without specifying which ministries.
“While there are interests beyond the scope of the positions, [the appointments] are symbolic of [Jokowi giving] allies the opportunity to join and strengthen the Cabinet.”
To round off the new appointments, former president director of Bank BTN, Pahala Nugraha Mansury, was made deputy state-owned enterprises (SOEs) minister, while former chief of the general staff of the Indonesian Military (TNI) Lt. Gen. M. Herindra was made deputy defense minister. The latter two were called up to fill positions vacated by their predecessors, who assumed new roles as ministers.
Earlier that day, Jokowi inaugurated erstwhile Surabaya mayor Tri Rismaharini as social affairs minister and former deputy defense minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono as maritime and fisheries affairs minister, filling in two Cabinet posts that were vacated as a result of graft investigations.
Former deputy Jakarta governor Sandiaga Uno, who ran against Jokowi-Ma’ruf Amin as vice-presidential candidate in last year’s elections, was sworn in as tourism and creative economy minister.
Former deputy state-owned enterprises minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin was made health minister, while former Indonesian ambassador to the United States Muhammad Lutfi replaced Agus Suparmanto as trade minister.
Lastly, the Head of Nahdlatul Ulama’s (NU) youth wing organization GP Anshor, Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, succeeded retired general Fachrul Razi as religious affairs minister.
The executive director of Jakarta-based pollster KedaiKOPI, Kunto Adi Wibowo, highlighted the President’s incongruous desire to cut red tape, only to hand out three new deputy minister positions in the Cabinet.
“Jokowi probably thinks that the additions don’t count as red tape, because it is easier to split one job among two people compared with having many institutions work on [a few certain issues],” Kunto told The Jakarta Post.
Read also: Govt may disband more agencies to slash red tape
“But we should definitely be scrutinizing the ministers and deputy ministers to see whether they can actually work together or end up bottlenecking the bureaucracy.”
Tuesday’s reshuffle reportedly resulted in a frenzy of political horse-trading that went on well into the night, with some of Jokowi’s coalition partners feeling ruffled by a shake-up that saw NU gain another seat in the Cabinet.
It was later revealed on Wednesday that Muhammadiyah secretary-general Abdul Mu’ti declined an opportunity to join the Cabinet as deputy education and culture minister.
Abdul took to Twitter to say that he had been offered the position but felt he was “not the right figure” for the job.
“Initially, when contacted by State Secretary [Pratikno] and Education and Culture Minister [Nadiem Makarim], I said I was prepared to join if given the mandate,” he tweeted. “But after gauging my own abilities, I changed my mind. Hopefully this is the best choice.”
Aside from the new ministers and deputy ministers, the President also inaugurated Insp. Gen. Petrus Golose as the new chief of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) and Hartono Prawiraatmadja as the head of the revamped Peatland and Mangrove Restoration Agency (BRGM).
