It is hoped that the preparation of the Prabowo-Gibran Cabinet will not be based on cattle trade politics

It is hoped that the number of ministries in the Prabowo-Gibran government will be in line with efforts to provide the best public services.

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO

The ministers of the Indonesia Maju Cabinet listened to the opening remarks delivered by President Joko Widodo during a full cabinet meeting about the National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN) for 2020-2024 at the State Palace in Jakarta on Monday, January 6th, 2019.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The preparation of the cabinet, including determining the number of ministries, in the government of Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka is not expected to be decided based on political interests of the cattle trade. Apart from public service interests, the number of ministries should be determined based on applicable regulations and the principles of decentralized government.

Law No. 39 of 2008 concerning the State Ministry has limited the maximum number of ministries to 34. Since the regulation was passed, the number of ministries has never exceeded 34. However, recently, there has been a proposal from the Association of Constitutional Law and State Administration Law Teachers (APHTN-HAN) that the ideal number of ministries should be 41. The fact that there are still many governmental affairs under the 1945 Constitution that have not been accommodated in the ministries is a consideration for APHTN-HAN to propose the addition.

In response to the proposal, Eko Prasojo, a Professor of Public Administration at the University of Indonesia, stated when contacted on Sunday (May 5, 2024) that the number of ministries in the future government ideally should no longer reach the maximum number regulated in the State Ministry Law. In other words, according to him, the cabinet should be made more streamlined.

One of the reasons is that in the era of regional autonomy like today, many government affairs have been delegated to the local government. "The government in Indonesia is decentralised, meaning it is largely handed over to district and city governments. As they only make policies with a macro character, it is expected that ministries and institutions in the centre should be minimal, and the bulk should be in the regions," he added.

KOMPAS/WISNU WIDIANTORO

Deputy Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform Eko Prasodjo (left), Minister of National Development Planning Lukita Dinarsyah Tuwo, and Chairman of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) Sofyan Wanandi, spoke at a Bureaucratic Reform seminar at the JS Luwansa Hotel in Jakarta on Tuesday (9/9/2014).

Moreover, the current government has also followed the digitalization trend by using information technology so that ideally the cabinet will be simpler. Because, the impact of digitalization is a combined government (join up governance). "This requires a government that is increasingly thin and simple," said Eko.

Furthermore, according to Eko, the fiscal space of the State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN) is only 17 percent. The rest is mostly used for routine expenditures such as employee salaries. With such limited fiscal space, ideally the cabinet should also be leaner so that more budget can be used for development programs and public interests. The quality of public services must be improved with future challenges that will not be easy.

Also read: Reorganizing State Ministries, Cabinet Proposed to Fill with 41 Ministers

"Other countries have even separated the ministries that handle policies and those who implement them. "So, there are policy making agencies and policy executing agencies which have more direct contact with the community," he said.

The former Deputy Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform emphasizes that the idea of adding ministries and institutions must have a strong basis. Ideally, the ministry should be formed according to the needs with the spirit of providing better public services to the public.

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

President Joko Widodo congratulated the Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security (Menkopolhukam) Hadi Tjahjanto (left) and the Minister of Agrarian and Spatial Planning/Head of the National Land Agency Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY) after their inauguration at the State Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday (21/2/2024).

Agreeing with Eko, Senior Researcher of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Siti Zuhro views that the cabinet could be made leaner due to the delegation of many affairs to local governments. Therefore, the central government should no longer handle many of these affairs. With the cabinet's streamlining, she also sees that the government can move more agilely.

Siti Zuhro suspects that the desire to add ministries is only to accommodate Prabowo's ambition to embrace all political forces. With the addition of ministries, it will not be difficult for Prabowo to divide ministerial seats for his supporting political parties (parpol), as well as parties that join after the 2024 Presidential Election (Pilpres).

"In fact, the government must be agile and not make its cabinet fat. There should be strong checks and balances in the DPR. "Don't let it become a political practice in cattle trading," he said.

Another thing that also needs attention is strengthening the presidential system. Because of this, Siti Zuhro hopes that not all political party factions in parliament will join the government. Because, this situation will actually create an authoritarian government without strong checks and balances between the executive and legislature.

The government must be agile and not become fat in its cabinet. There should be strong checks and balances in the DPR. Don't let it become a political practice of cattle trading.

"The strengthening of the presidential system can only be done with the functioning of a system of balance and mutual control between the executive and legislative branches. The function of the DPR, including oversight, must be effective towards all government policies," he stated.

New idea

Separately, member of Commission II from the National Mandate Party Faction, Guspardi Gaus, assessed that until now the revision of the State Ministry Law has not been discussed in Commission II meetings. This is because the idea of forming 41 ministries and agencies is a new idea conveyed by Prabowo as the elected president.

He emphasized that any new ideas or concepts from the government should ideally refer to existing laws. If there is indeed a serious desire from the president to increase the quota of ministries and agencies in accordance with his vision and mission, the existing laws must be revised.

"As long as the (revision of the law) hasn't been made, it will raise questions because the number of ministries and institutions is regulated by the law. Of course, whoever the president is, they must refer to the applicable law," he said.

DOKUMENTASI FRAKSI PAN DPR

Member of Commission II DPR from the PAN faction Guspardi Gaus

Nevertheless, Guspardi mentioned that during the remaining period of the 2019-2024 DPR (People's Legislative Assembly) term, the revision of the law could still be carried out as long as there is an agreement between factions in the DPR. The revision can be conducted as long as there is an urgent need or interest. If it is considered important, in addition to the mechanism of revising the law in the DPR, the government can also issue a replacement government regulation (perppu).

"The revision is also not too heavy because it only relates to the nomenclature relating to the number of ministries and institutions," he said.

Also read: The Prabowo Coalition has prepared ministerial quotas for PKB and Nasdem