Big Challenges Await Newly Reshuffled Cabinet

Name: Big Challenges Await Newly Reshuffled Cabinet
Uploaded: 2022-06-16T04:33:21Z
Duration: 20 min 32 s
Description: Three of the five ministers and deputy ministers appointed by President Jokowi as part of the cabinet reshuffle are from high-ranking political parties that are members of the coalition supporting the government.

Kompas Team

· 6 minutes read

Three of the five ministers and deputy ministers appointed by President Jokowi on Wednesday have political party backgrounds. The President has asked them ensure the availability of basic needs and to resolve land conflicts.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Challenges that may come from within the country or at a global scale await the Indonesia Maju (Indonesia Onward) Cabinet, which underwent a reshuffle on Wednesday (15/6/2022). While President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo expressed high hopes for the two newly appointed ministers and three deputy ministers to ensure the availability of basic domestic needs and to resolve land conflicts, skeptics think that the reshuffle is more to organize the coalition than to manage performance.

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> President Jokowi's Opportunity

Three of the five ministers and deputy ministers appointed by President Jokowi as part of the cabinet reshuffle are from high-ranking political parties that are members of the coalition supporting the government. The chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), Zulkifli Hasan, was appointed as trade minister replacing M Lutfi. Other political party officials appointed as ministers or deputy ministers include the secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Indonesia Solidarity Party (PSI) Raja Juli Antoni as deputy agrarian and spatial planning minister/deputy head of the National Land Agency (BPN) and secretary-general of the the Crescent Star Party (PBB) Afriansyah Noor as deputy manpower minister .

In addition, John Wempi Wetipo, previously deputy Public Works and Public Housing minister, was named deputy home affairs minister.

The President also appointed former Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Marshal (Ret.) Hadi Tjahjanto as agrarian and spatial planning minister, replacing Sofyan Djalil. In addition, John Wempi Wetipo, previously deputy Public Works and Public Housing minister, was named deputy home affairs minister.

“We looked at everything, track record, experience and especially managerial skills, because now it's not only macro, but also micro that must be worked out in detail. I see Pak Zul [Zulkifli Hasan] has experience, a track record — and a long track record. I think he will be very good [as] trade minister," said the President after the inauguration of the new ministers and deputy ministers at the State Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday afternoon.

Before the inauguration, Jokowi invited the chairmen of the parties to have lunch at the State Palace. In addition to Zulkifli, Airlangga Hartarto (Golkar Party), Suharso Monoarfa (United Development Party) and Prabowo Subianto (Gerindra) all members of the cabinet, were invited. Megawati Soekarnoputri (PDI-P), Surya Paloh (Nasdem) and Muhaimin Iskandar (National Awakening Party) were also present.

On that occasion, the President said that at present, ensuring the availability of basic needs for the people required hard work. “Going down to the field is needed to see firsthand the problems, especially related to the basic needs of the people. In terms of exports, I think the trade minister will also be in charge," he said.

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> A Number of Ministers and Deputy Ministers Are Replaced

Regarding the reasons for choosing Hadi Tjahjanto as agrarian and spatial planning minister/ head of BPN, the President said that as a former TNI Commander, Hadi had the ability to control the territory. "Therefore, last night I explained matters related to land disputes. The land disputes must be resolved as much as possible," he said.

Priority

After the inauguration, Zulkifli said he had discussed with the President various economic issues, including those related to cooking oil. "God willing, together with my friends we can resolve them quickly, especially for the cooking oil [crisis], related to its availability and affordability. It can't take too long. I am sorry for the people. I think that's a priority," he said.

Meanwhile, Hadi said that he would soon resolve land conflicts, particularly the problems related to people's land certificates. At present, only 81 million certificates out of the total target of 126 million certificates have been issued. Hadi also said he would resolve the land disputes.

Domestically, the trade minister needs to create stability in food supplies and prices, and to ensure smooth distribution of basic needs, as well as controlling inflation.

According to the deputy chairperson of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Shinta W Kamdani, the newly appointed trade minister would face many challenges in controlling domestic and foreign trade. Domestically, the trade minister needs to create stability in food supplies and prices, and to ensure smooth distribution of basic needs, as well as controlling inflation.

The Trade Ministry also needs to ensure that there is no more fraud in commodities that are prone to hoarding or price manipulation.

Coalition management

The executive director of Charta Politica think tank, Yunarto Wijaya, sees the cabinet reshuffle as more to reorganize the coalition, such as by including the PAN party in the government coalition, and not as an opportunity to reorganize government performance. The replacement of the two ministers will not resolve the problems because the backgrounds of the figures who replaced them have nothing to do with the ministries they lead.

The inauguration of the five ministers and deputy ministers, he said, also did not appear to be the main agenda at the State Palace. The main issue was the meeting between the President and the chairmen of the parties. The President seemed eager to respond to the political situation that has recently heated up with the issue of coalition rifts and the strained relationship between Jokowi and Megawati Soekarnoputri. "This is Jokowi's hallmark. When talking about work, political stability must come first," said Yunarto.

Meanwhile, a senior researcher at the Political Research Center of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Firman Noora, said that apart from the Agrarian and Spatial Planning Ministry/BPN and the Trade Ministry, a number of other ministries were also not optimal. However, political negotiations kept the politicians in the cabinet. This, he said, could be seen from Surya Paloh's visit to the State Palace on Tuesday.

According to a Kompas monitoring, on Wednesday morning, Surya Paloh visited the palace to discuss cabinet changes, especially regarding a minister from the Nasdem Party.

President Jokowi has reminded ministers several times to focus on overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic and the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on the country’s economy.

Firman reminded that the composition of the cabinet with the addition of the party chairmen also had the potential to add to the problems ahead of the 2024 general election. Previously, there was an indication that ministers of the Indonesia Onward cabinet seemed to be putting more attention on their parties’ duty related to election preparations than their work. President Jokowi has reminded ministers several times to focus on overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic and the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on the country’s economy.

Yunarto predicted that this cabinet reshuffle would not be the last.

However, on the sidelines of a parade of the Nasdem Party’s Youth Guard in Jakarta on Wednesday, Surya Paloh ensured that there would be no more changes. In fact, he said the reshuffle would damage the cabinet. "If there is another reshuffle, it's all broken," he said. (CAS/WKM/HAR/INA/NIA/HEN/NAD)

This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.

Editor:

NASRULLAH NARA

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