Amid the various limitations, now is the time for the government to lay the ground for the nation’s legacy.
By
KOMPAS EDITOR
·3 minutes read
BPMI SEKRETARIAT PRESIDEN
Presiden Joko Widodo mengucapkan selamat kepada Yaqut Cholil Qoumas yang baru dilantik sebagai Menteri Agama pada 23 Desember 2020. Perombakan kabinet diduga akan kembali terjadi .
Rumors of a Cabinet reshuffle have resurfaced after the House of Representatives approved the President’s proposal to change the names of three ministries.
The House approval for changing the names of the Education and Culture Ministry, the Research and Technology Ministry and the Investment Ministry, which came during a plenary meeting on Friday (9/4/2021), is no surprise. With government parties filling the majority of House seats, President Joko Widodo had no trouble eliciting their support.
Similar support was previously elicited amid discussions over revising the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Law, as well as while drafting the omnibus bill on job creation. The plan to revise Law No. 7/2017 on the elections was also eventually canceled because the government did not want it. A Cabinet reshuffle, as happened last December, will not have much effect on the coalition government.
However, this does not mean that the government is running smoothly. The COVID-19 pandemic has yet to be resolved, whereas some countries like India are seeing another surge in cases to affect various calculations. Ironically, even though the pandemic has yet to be overcome, several of the country’s political elite have set their sights on the 2024 elections.
These varying situations have not seemed to diminish the government’s overarching goals. Relocating the nation’s capital to Kalimantan is still under discussion, and it is targeting economic growth of around 5 percent this year.
The proposal to change the ministries’ names, with talks of transforming the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) into an Investment Ministry, can be seen as part of the government’s efforts to realize this target. This is because upgrading the BKPM into a ministry will give them the authority to make policies in hopes of attracting more investment into the country.
It is also important to note that the results following these name changes will not be immediate. More time and funding are needed, for example to attend to basic administrative tasks, such as designing new logos and letterheads. Attracting investment during the pandemic will also be challenging.
At the same time, many questions remain unanswered, such as the role of research and innovation in development once the duties and functions of the Research and Technology Ministry have been integrated with the Education and Culture Ministry into a single ministry, the Education, Culture, Research and Technology Ministry. As Yanuar Nugroho penned in this daily on Thursday (15/4), a great country thrives on knowledge; without it, it will perish.
Hopefully, these questions will be answered during the upcoming Cabinet reshuffle. The remaining three years until the 2024 elections are too valuable to be wasted on disagreements and wishful thinking. Amid the various limitations, now is the time for the government to lay the ground for the nation’s legacy.
