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Worrying picture emerges about Jokowi's cabinet
Jakarta Globe - October 20, 2014
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Financial Transactions Report and Analysis Center (PPATK), the government's anti-money-laundering agency, are currently scrutinizing Joko's ministerial candidates, and said on Sunday that 43 names had been submitted on Friday by Joko's transition team.
The figure indicates that Joko has not finalized his list of ministers, the newly inaugurated president saying earlier that he would have 34 ministerial posts.
KPK deputy chairman Zulkarnaen on Monday confirmed that there were some "problematic" candidates in the list. "We are merely providing input as requested [by Joko's team]. Those who are very problematic, we mark in red. Those we consider somewhat [problematic] we mark in yellow," he said.
Zulkarnaen said the KPK's assessment was based on whether the candidates had been implicated in corruption cases as well as how up-front they were about declaring their wealth and any gifts they received.
The KPK is also vetting the candidates against complaints filed by independent antigraft watchdogs and the public.
Murky candidates
Zulkarnaen declined to name any of the candidates, but a list of 25 names said to have been leaked from the transition team has been doing the rounds in the local media.
They include Muhaimin Iskandar, the current manpower minister and chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB), one of the four parties in Joko's ruling coalition. Muhaimin has been implicated in a corruption scandal at his ministry, but never questioned.
Another name that has raised eyebrows is that of Budi Gunawan, a police general who was among a group of top officers identified in a Tempo investigative report in 2010 as having suspiciously "fat bank accounts." Budi, the magazine wrote, received billions of rupiah from several contractors mired in legal problems.
Budi was more recently the subject of another controversy when he met with Trimedya Panjaitan, an adviser to Joko's campaign and legislator from the president's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) shortly before the election.
Both men gave conflicting statements about the nature of their meeting, prompting accusations that they were drawing the police into the election. Budi previously served as an assistant to Megawati Soekarnoputri, the PDI-P chairwoman and Joko's political patron.
Taken hostage
Indonesia Corruption Watch, a leading antigraft organization, urged Joko to stick to his promise of reminded Joko's own promise of building an "unconditional coalition" and not to acquiesce to the political interests of those around him when filling his cabinet posts.
"Ministers and agency chiefs must be appointed based on integrity, track record, capacity and strong commitment to eradicate corruption inside their respective ministries and agencies," ICW coordinator Ade Irawan said.
"This is important so that the administration isn't disrupted or has its credibility tarnished or gets taken hostage by the corruption committed ministers or ministry officials."
He said that Joko "must ensure that [his ministers] won't become a graft suspect or have suspicious financial transactions or be tax evaders."
Ade said this was the case with the administration of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whose second term was effectively undermined by the litany of graft cases that beset his cabinet.
Andi Mallarangeng, the sports minister, was earlier this year convicted and jailed in a bid-rigging case, while Suryadharma Ali, the religious affairs minister, and Jero Wacik, the energy minister, resigned after being named suspects in separate graft cases.
Two members of Yudhoyono's first cabinet, former health chief Siti Fadillah Supari and former social affairs minister Bachtiar Chamsah, were named corruption suspects after leaving office.
Political graft
Joko previously said that 16 of his 34 ministers would come from the political parties that supported him. ICW's Ade said that ideally these ministers should resign from their party posts once appointed to the cabinet, to avoid any conflicts of interest.
Corruption cases over the years have tended to indicate that ministries led by politicians are more prone to graft than those led by technocrats.
In July, the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court sentenced Andi, the sports minister, to four years in prison for conspiring with fellow members of the Democratic Party to rig a tender to build a sports complex in exchange for kickbacks.
The same court also ruled that Luthfi Hasan Ishaaq, the president of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), took kickbacks in exchange for promising to award lucrative beef import contracts to a private company.
The import quota was determined by the Agriculture Ministry, led by another PKS politician, Suswono. The latter has been questioned but not charged in the case. Luthfi is now serving a 16-year prison sentence.
Besides Muhaimin, there are nine other politicians said to be in Joko's prospective cabinet, including Megawati's daughter Puan Maharani and fellow PDI-P veterans Tjahjo Kumolo, Hasto Kristiyanto and Pramono Anung. Others include the PKB's Marwan Jafar, the National Democrat Party's (NasDem) Ferry Mursyidan Baldan and the People's Conscience Party's (Hanura) Yuddy Chrisnandi.
None of these politicians has much experience leading a government agency, much less a ministry.
Proven potential
But the list also includes some better-qualified politicians, including the PDI-P's Eva Kusuma Sundari, known for her outspoken views in defense of religious freedom.
Several high-profile figures without any political party affiliations are also said to be in the running for cabinet seats. They include Anies Baswedan, a leading education activist from Paramadina University who is credited with setting up the "Indonesia Mengajar" ("Indonesia Teaches") program that sends gifted young people to serve stints as teachers in remote areas throughout the country.
Anies previously took part in the Democratic Party's convention to pick a presidential candidate, and impressed many by his vision for the country. The convention was eventually scrapped.
Also reportedly in with a chance is Jimly Asshiddiqie, a former chief justice of the Constitutional Court, who built the institution into one of the only bastions of integrity, alongside the KPK, in the fight against corruption.
Another prominent figure is Darmin Nasution, a former Bank Indonesia governor who is also credited with helping overhaul the country's tax system during his time as director general of taxation.
Then there is the former PPATK chief, Yunus Husein, and antigraft activist Mas Achmad Santosa.
Two businessmen are also rumored to be in Joko's cabinet: Johnny Darmawan, a former chief executive of Toyota Astra Motor, and Sudhamek Agung Waspodo Sunyoto, chairman of Garuda Food. It is not clear what seat, if any, they would occupy in Joko's cabinet.
Vice President Kalla said on Monday that the final list of ministers would be announced "in the next day or two."
Leo Agustino political observer from Banten's Sultan Ageng Tirtayasa University, said the list of leaked names circulating in the media could be Joko's way of "testing the water."
Tellingly, the list does not contain any names of politicians from the United Development Party (PPP), a member of the opposition Red-White coalition, or KMP, which is seen as the most likely party to switch sides.
"We leave it up to the president. It's his prerogative," M. Romahurmuziy, the PPP's newly elected chairman, said of the apparent omission of PPP figures from the prospective cabinet. He added the party "never demanded this post or that. We just want to say that the PPP supports the Jokowi-J.K. administration."
Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/worrying-picture-emerges-jokowis-cabinet/.
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