Waiting for the Birth of the "Zaken" Cabinet

The choice to form a "zaken" cabinet is the best choice to face the complexity of the challenges ahead.

KOMPAS/HERYUNANTO

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After the Constitutional Court's decision rejecting the lawsuit of presidential candidate and vice presidential candidate pair number 1 and 3, public attention is now shifting to what kind of cabinet will be formed by the winning pair, Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka.

This is because the number of political parties supporting the pair is nine parties, namely four parties that passed parliament and five parties that did not pass parliament. It is possible that 3-4 parties supporting serial numbers 1 and 3 will join.

So, the total could be 12-13 parties. The large number of parties supporting Prabowo-Gibran will certainly have an impact on the distribution of a number of ministerial seats in the cabinet that is being prepared. It is certain that most of the ministerial seats will be allocated to supporting parties, especially parties that have seats in parliament.

Based on Law number 39 of 2008 concerning the State Ministry, the maximum number of ministries is 34. Starting from the United Indonesia Cabinet (KIB) under the administration of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY)-M Jusuf Kalla to the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet (KIM) under the administration of Joko Widodo-Ma'ruf Amin, the number of cabinet members has consistently been 34 ministers.

It is time for the formation of a cabinet that employs the 'zaken' concept, where its members are experts or professionals in their respective fields and not merely a representation of a particular political party.

Referring to the information above, if the parties supporting and endorsing the Prabowo-Gibran government consist of 13 parties, with the assumption that each party will hold two ministerial seats, the total number of ministers of party origin will reach 26 out of a total of 34 ministries or 76 percent.

In other words, the role of political parties will be very dominant in the new cabinet. The large number of ministers from political party elements is feared to have an impact on the cabinet's performance. The political party faction will be a burden to the new government.

Looking back at President SBY's experience in composing KIB volume I or II, his cabinet composition consisted of 16 ministers from political parties and 20 ministers from professional elements not affiliated with parties. At that time, there were a total of 34 ministries/state ministers and two ministerial-level positions, namely the Attorney General and Cabinet Secretary.

The same goes for the administration of President Jokowi in both his first and second terms. Jokowi maintained the cabinet structure consisting of 16 to 17 ministers from political parties and 18 other ministers from non-partisan professional backgrounds.

Unfortunately, based on records, the number of ministers who come from political parties involved in corruption cases in the cabinets of SBY and Jokowi volumes I and II is quite significant.

Noted, five ministers were involved in corruption cases during the ten years of SBY’s administration, starting from Bahctiar Chamsyah, Siti Fadilah Supari, Andi Alfian Mallarangeng, Jero Wacik, to Suryadharma Ali. In Jokowi's first and second administrations, six ministers were involved in corruption cases, namely Juliari Batubara, Edhy Prabowo, Imam Nahrawi, Idrus Marham, and still in the trial process, Johnny G Plate and Syahrul Yasin Limpo.

In forming their cabinet, Prabowo-Gibran must learn from the experience of the two regimes that have been in power for two decades prior, that almost all corruption cases involving ministers have involved those from party elements.

It is time for the formation of a cabinet using the concept of a zaken cabinet or a cabinet whose ranks of ministers come from experts or professionals in their fields and are not representatives of certain political parties. The portion of ministers who come from political party elements can be minimized. In this way, the performance of the appointed minister can go "all out" without any specific burden or target from the proposing party.

Also read: Prabowo Invites All Elites to Leave Their Differences

"zaken" cabinet

The concept of a zaken cabinet is not new in the world of politics in Indonesia. It first appeared in 1955 as a response to post-election political instability, when cabinets relied on coalitions involving many parties.

In that period, the zaken cabinet was an extra-parliamentary cabinet formed based on the expertise or skills of the appointed ministers, who came from professional circles and were not representatives of a particular political party.

In the history of government in Indonesia, there have been three examples of zaken cabinets that have been formed.

The Djuanda Cabinet (9 April 1957-10 July 1959) was the first zaken cabinet and was led by Djuanda Kartawidjaja as chairman. This was followed by the Natsir Cabinet (6 September 1950-21 March 1951) and the Wilopo Cabinet (3 April 1952-3 June 1953). Djuanda's cabinet, although short-lived, succeeded in determining the width of Indonesia's territory to 12 miles from the outermost coastline.

The complexity of the problems faced by the nation in the future demands the best talents of the nation who are free from certain political interests other than the interests for the welfare of the nation and state.

We are not only faced with domestic issues, but also international issues that are increasingly complex. Starting from education and health issues, human development, demographic bonuses, economic growth stagnation, long-standing global economic uncertainty, geopolitical problems that can erupt at any time, the Russia-Ukraine war, Palestine-Israel, Iran-Israel, the Korean peninsula, China-Taiwan, to the conflict in the South China Sea region.

The new government will have a heavy burden to restore public trust. One of them is by showing much better government performance and being free from corruption cases. The choice to form a zaken cabinet is the best choice to face the complexity of future challenges, both domestic and global.

The new president must no longer be burdened with the moral hazard problems his ministers have. Moreover, they even "hold hostage" the leaders of political parties in order to secure their policies until they reach parliament. The new cabinet must reflect high professionalism and dedication to achieve further progress for the nation.

Handi Risza, Vice Chancellor of Paramadina University