A number of positions such as on the Presidential Advisory Council and the deputy commander of the Indonesian Military (TNI) have yet to be filled.
By
Anita Yossihara / Nina Susilo / Ida Ayu Grhamtika Saitya / Laksana Agung Saputra
·4 minutes read
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Nearly three weeks after Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Ma\'ruf Amin were inaugurated as President and Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, the filling of positions in a number of ministries, institutions and presidential support bodies had not been completed. A number of positions such as on the Presidential Advisory Council and the deputy commander of the Indonesian Military (TNI) have yet to be filled.
In the midst of such a situation, based on the results of the Kompas R&D poll of 24 and 25 October, as many as 63 percent of the respondents were satisfied with the ministers in the Indonesia Onward Cabinet. The emergence of a number of old and new people is quite encouraging.
At the same time, there is hope that the President will not be held hostage by a considerable political burden. That hope arises because Jokowi is seen trying to accommodate many political parties, including his political opponents in the last election, in the Cabinet. The size of the Jokowi-Amin coalition currently, which controls up to 74.26 percent of the House of Representatives seats, is not a guarantee that the government will run more smoothly because of the changing political dynamics.
63 percent of the respondents were satisfied with the ministers in the Indonesia Onward Cabinet.
Not yet filled
Positions in the government that have not been filled include those on the Presidential Advisory Council. Of the 11 special presidential staff positions formed in the 2014 to 2019 administration term, currently only one is filled, namely the special staff of the President for communications, which is held by Fadjroel Rachman.
The organizational structure in the Presidential Staff Office (KSP) has also not yet been compiled. The President appointed Moeldoko as the chief of staff to lead the Presidential Staff Office, while other positions remain vacant.
The positions of deputy ministers also still have not been filled, one of which is deputy minister of education and culture. In Presidential Regulation No. 72/2019 concerning the education and culture minister, in leading the Education and Culture Ministry the minister is assisted by the deputy minister in accordance with the appointment of the President.
State Secretary Pratikno on Thursday (7/11/2019) in Jakarta said that the President had not yet made a decision related to filling the position of deputy minister of education and culture. The President will first discuss the issue with Education and Culture Minister Nadiem Makarim.
Along with the preparation of the new Cabinet, President Jokowi also organized the TNI organization. Through Presidential Regulation No. 66/2019 concerning the organizational structure of the TNI, which was signed on 18 October 2019, a new position was established, namely the deputy commander of the TNI.
According to Pratikno, the position of deputy TNI commander did not appear all of a sudden. "When Pak Moeldoko was the commander of TNI, there had been a suggestion about the importance of the position of deputy commander of TNI," he said.
The existence of a deputy TNI commander, according to Pratikno, will greatly assist the commander for the technical affairs of the organization. "If we compare it with other institutions, the National Police chief also has a deputy National Police chief, as well as a chief of staff. A number of ministries also have deputy ministers. So, the existence of a deputy TNI commander is something that is very reasonable and is badly needed," said Pratikno.
Not effective
The existence of deputy ministers in a number of ministries, according to a political science lecturer at Airlangga University, Surabaya, Airlangga Pribadi, made the Cabinet too fat, thereby threatening the effectiveness of the government’s work.
Public policy observer Agus Pambagio said he considered that the addition of the deputy ministerial positions will add to the wastefulness of the state budget. Although the salaries of ministers and deputy ministers are relatively small, the budget for their facilities and benefits is not small.
President should choose figures who are easy to get along with.
According to Agus, not all ministries need deputy ministers to support the ministers\' work. That position is only needed in a number of ministries with as much work and dynamics as the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
To fill the deputy ministers\' positions, Agus said, the President should choose figures who are easy to get along with, are able to work together and have technical skills according to the ministries they lead. (Litbang Kompas)