Reshuffling the Cabinet
A few days ago President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo signaled that he would reshuffle his Cabinet again if the performance of ministers was not in line with targets. What will the Cabinet reshuffle volume 3 deliver? Will it merely reshuffle coalition parties or truly be a performance-based reshuffle?
Holding a post as a minister of state is a dream for many people. In the New Order Era (1966-1998), the ministers generally took their full positions, namely for five years. A number of ministers, especially in the economic field, even held the post for up to two to four periods.
The late Ali Wardhana, for example, served as Soeharto\'s minister of confidence for nearly 20 years (1968-1988). So too Radius Prawiro, who was minister for 20 years (1973-1993), while Widjojo Nitisastro, one of the architects of the New Order economy, headed the National Planning Agency (Bappenas), until he served as coordinating minister for the economy for nearly 13 years (1971-1983).
However, presidential assistants in the reform era cannot be as "quiet" as in Soeharto\'s era. The ministers must be ready at any time to be dismissed or shifted to other positions if their performance is not in line with the expectations, or the political stance, of their political parties, r if their presence in the parties contradicts the political position of the President.
This was the experience of ministers of the National Unity Cabinet in the era of the late President Adburrahman Wahid (Gus Dur, 1991-2001). Several ministers served only for 3-6 months, several others less than one year, and a few others quit shortly after taking office.
Possibly traumatized by the era of Gus Dur, President Megawati Soekarnoputri (2001-2004), who formed the Gotong Royong Cabinet, did not make any Cabinet reforms. However, during the two periods of the leadership of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (2004-2014) there were reshuffles of the United Indonesia Cabinet five times, twice in the first period and three times in the second period, respectively. Except for the large-scale Cabinet reshuffle on October 11, 2011, the two reshuffles in the second period of the United Indonesia Cabinet were limited.
Maneuvers of the coalition of political parties
For more than half of his term of government, President Jokowi has reshuffled the Working Cabinet twice, namely in August 2015 and July 2016. What was interesting was in the post-Cabinet reshuffle volume 2, President Jokowi surprisingly dismissed Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arcandra Tahar, who was sworn in for only three weeks, for allegedly having dual citizenship.
Two months later, Arcandra was reappointed in the post of deputy minister of energy and mineral resources (ESDM), accompanying the new ESDM minister, Ignasius Jonan, the former transportation minister who two months earlier was removed by President Jokowi.
Another interesting phenomenon from the two-and-a-half years of the Jokowi-Jusuf Kalla Working Cabinet is the frequent ministerial shifts in one ministry position. Aside from the ESDM ministry, there are four other ministry portfolios that have experienced three ministerial changes.
The four ministries are the Coordinating Ministry for Politics, Legal Affairs and Security (from Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno to Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, then replaced by Wiranto), the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (Indroyono Soesilo, Rizal Ramli, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan), the Ministry of Trade (Rachmat Gobel, Thomas T Lembong, Enggartiasto Lukita), and the Ministry of National Development Planning/Chairman of Bappenas (Andrinof Chaniago, Sofyan Djalil, Bambang Brodjonegoro).
Nevertheless, the performance of the ministers after the Cabinet reshuffles does not seem to have satisfied the President, so the former mayor of Solo and governor of Jakarta has given signals that he may reshuffle the Cabinet again. It is believed that an important factor behind the President\'s signal is the need to accelerate development so that most Nawacita programs during the Jokowi-Jusuf Kalla era can be realized and enjoyed by society.
However, it is also possible that the Cabinet reshuffle was triggered by the need for a more solid Work Cabinet, one that is not disturbed by the maneuvers of political coalitions supporting Jokowi-Jusuf Kalla.
The shifts in support and the political machinations by political parties in the Jakarta gubernatorial election very likely worries Jokowi. As is known, the coalition of political parties supporting Jokowi-Jusuf Kalla in the first round was split between the axis of Teuku Umar (the house of Megawati Soekarnoputri), which supported Basuki Tjahaja Purnama-Djarot Saiful Hidayat and the axis of Cikeas (the house of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono), which supported Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono-Sylviana Murni.
In the second round, the coalitions were split into the Teuku Umar Axis and the Axis of Kertanegara (the house of Prabowo Subianto). The National Awakening Party (PKB) and the United Development Party (PPP), which were expected to return to the Teuku Umar Axis, turned out to give "half-hearted" support to Basuki-Djarot. Meanwhile, the National Mandate Party (PAN) even preferred supporting the Kertanegara Axis backing Anies Baswedan-Sandiaga Uno, who finally won the heated battle for the Jakarta governorship.
Performance factor or politics?
The tantalizing question that comes up with every Cabinet reshuffle is whether it is motivated by the performance factor of the ministers or more because of political reasons, namely political friction between the State Palace and supporting political parties? Of course President Jokowi knows better what the factors are behind the third Cabinet reshuffle plan.
However, there is nothing wrong if we try to think about the considerations that may be the motivations for President Jokowi to launch a Cabinet reshuffle.
First, the performance factor of the ministers themselves.
As is known, Jokowi is a hard worker who has a certain target for every political program that has been proclaimed. There are also timeframes that he is always trying to meet. Jokowi hopes every minister can work at the same minimum standards as himself, so that during the five years of government that he leads, there is a clear and measurable legacy for our nation.
Jokowi is a typical President who is impatient with bureaucracy, namely those who are only smart to command from behind the desk, but do not have the capacity to control their work, so their achievements are not clear as well.
Moreover, Jokowi seems to be a typical President who does not like it if every penny of rupiah from the state budget is simply wasted because of the performance of incompetent aides.
Second, the political loyalty factor.
This is mainly true for ministers who represent the coalition of political parties supporting Jokowi-Jusuf Kalla. As is known, each party in the coalition gets compensation in the form of a ministerial seat in the Working Cabinet. The Cabinet seats are certainly not free. Therefore, each political party supporting the government is required to remain loyal and support every political program and policy of the government.
However, the question is whether differences in the choices of political parties supporting candidacies in regional elections, such the Jakarta gubernatorial election, is included in the "loyal" or "not loyal" assessments?
I think, President Jokowi, who has the authority to promote and dismiss ministers of state, is entitled to give a subjective interpretation on the meaning and scope of the "loyalty" of political parties. Moreover, there is no written agreement between Jokowi and the political parties, both about the scope of support of the parties to the President. This means, President Jokowi is entitled to reshuffle his cabinet formation if he subjectively feels "angered" by the maneuvers of the supporting political parties.
With regard to this, we do not know whether the political maneuvers by the general chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), Zulkifle Hasan, who indicated that there was an "intervention" by Vice President Jusuf Kalla in the candidacy of Anies Baswedan, was related to the potential removal of the PAN minister from Jokowi\'s Cabinet or not.
Third, there is the factor of capability and the capacity of ministers in building teamwork among sectoral partners across the ministries.
Included here is the personal passion of the ministers, whether they really have a commitment to realizing a better Indonesia, or simply want to be ministers with all the supporting facilities. The ministers in the presidential system are basically unable to work independently because they collectively have to realize the vision and mission and political programs of the elected president. Even though several ministers are from political parties, they have no political mandate because political and governmental responsibilities are in the hands of the President.
Whatever Jokowi\'s political choice for reshuffling the Cabinet again has to be seen in the context of the authority of the President in the presidential system.
However, as a part of the elements of society that give the political mandate to the President, we hope the Cabinet reshuffle will be really oriented to the acceleration of the realization of justice and prosperity for our entire nation. The political costs to be borne by the nation are too great if the Cabinet reshuffle is nothing more than a procession of opportunity exchanges.
SYAMSUDDIN HARIS
Research Professor of LIPI