JAKARTA: Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto’s sudden Cabinet reshuffle on Monday (Sep 8) is aimed at addressing public unhappiness in light of recent deadly protests that have rocked the archipelago, as well as consolidating political power by removing ministers linked to former presidents, say analysts.
The reshuffle saw five ministers including long-serving Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati removed, and a new ministry established to oversee matters related to the haj and umrah Islamic pilgrimages.
Economist Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa, who was head of the Indonesia Deposit Insurance Corporation, is Sri Mulyani’s replacement.
Cooperatives Minister Budi Arie Setiadi has been replaced by his deputy Ferry Juliantono, while Migrant Workers Protection Minister Abdul Kadir Karding has been replaced by Mukhtarudin, who goes by one name and is secretary of the Golkar Party faction in Indonesia’s House of Representatives.
Budi Gunawan was sacked as the country’s coordinating minister for politics and security, while Dito Ariotedjo was sacked as youth and sports minister. Their replacements have yet to be announced.
The ministers removed were the ones who had incurred the public’s anger, observers said.
Budi Arie faced allegations of involvement in online gambling when he served previously as minister of communication and informatics under Prabowo’s predecessor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
Dito was previously linked to a corruption case but denied accepting bribes, while a photo that went viral days ago showed Abdul Kadir and Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni playing a game of dominoes with Aziz Wellang, who was previously named as a suspect in an illegal logging case before he was cleared.
Sri Mulyani’s house was ransacked by demonstrators last week, along with the houses of three lawmakers, as anger erupted over police violence, the perceived insensitivity of political elites to the economic hardship of the masses, and other issues.
“I think in the past few days, especially during the demonstrations and before, the country’s economic performance has been in the spotlight,” said Wasisto Raharjo Jati, a researcher at the Research Centre for Politics at the Indonesian National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN).
“So, this is then related to the performance of the ministers who were replaced, for example, the economic issues are related to the finance minister, and then there were issues about online gambling which led to suspicions about (the involvement of) minister Budi (Arie),” said Wasisto.
Although this second Cabinet reshuffle is bigger than the first one in February, where Prabowo replaced only his higher education, science and technology minister, analysts believe it is still not enough to solve the current problems many Indonesians are facing.
The reshuffle highlights the need to reevaluate past policies that largely weighed on the economy, and does not entirely address sources of public discontent, analysts told CNA.
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