The President surely made political calculations in replacing his ministers with only around 18 months left in his term.
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·3 minutes read
Kompas/NINA SUSILO
Idrus Marham (left) shakes hands with President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo at the State Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday (17/1) after his inauguration as the new social affairs minister. Idrus is replacing Khofifah Indar Parawansa, who is running in the East Java regional election.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has replaced his Social Affairs Minister and Presidential Chief of Staff in the third year of his terms, which just happens to be the year of politics.
Even though the Cabinet reshuffle was discussed and speculated publicly for quite some time, the official announcement and inauguration seemed to come from nowhere. On Wednesday, Jan. 17, the President inaugurated Golkar Party politician Idrus Marham as Social Affairs Minister to replace Khofifah Indar Parawansa, who will run in this year’s East Java gubernatorial election.
Other than Khofifah, the President also removed former anti-corruption activist Teten Masduki as Presidential Chief of Staff, and replaced him with former Indonesian Military commander Gen. (ret.) Moeldoko. Meanwhile, Gen. (ret.) Agum Gumelar was appointed to the Presidential Advisory Board (Wantimpres).
Rumors of the Cabinet reshuffle grew after Khofifah announced that she would be contesting the East Java gubernatorial election and Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto was elected Golkar Party chairman. However, political pragmatism has resulted in Jokowi’s keeping Airlangga in his Cabinet. Earlier, several parties reminded the President of his own statement that state ministers must not have concurrent positions as political party heads.
Replacing ministers is the President’s prerogative. The President surely made political calculations in replacing his ministers with only around 18 months left in his term. The registration of presidential candidates for the 2019 election will commence in August. Accelerated development will be a political inevitability to meet his campaign promises.
We urge President Jokowi and his ministers to make good on the campaign promises he made. The ministers need to understand how the people feel and refer to their humanitarian instinct to stand with the people, as is stated in the President’s Nawacita vision: the state is among the people.
In an era of openness and transparency, state ministers should not only enjoy their lofty position in the central government without understanding the social realities that the people face every day. Ministers, with their increasingly improving coordination, must approach the people to listen to their problems, absorb their feelings and use their power and authority to resolve the people’s problems. This is the essence of power.
Communication problems on the scarcity of rice and the controversy on the sinking of foreign ships among state ministers are just two recent examples of poor political communication within the Jokowi administration.
The changes in ministers and the presidential chief of staff must be used to improve the government’s communication with the people. The miscommunication between ministers and within the government, and the rapid changes in decision-making are internal problems that the government must resolve immediately.
