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Joko Widodo elevates econocrats in reshuffle but party hacks remain
Sydney Morning Herald - August 12, 2015
The reshuffle, announced Wednesday afternoon, took place against a slowing economy and long-standing criticism that Mr Joko's cabinet was stacked with appointees with poor policy credentials but strong political links to his coalition partners.
The promotion of former central bank governor Darmin Nasution as the new co-ordinating minister for the economy and investment banker Thomas Lembong as the new trade minister was generally welcomed.
The men they replaced – Sofyan Djalil and Rahmat Gobel – were negotiating with Australian ministers and officials on Tuesday over live cattle permits, although their sacking is believed to have nothing to do with the issue. The recent savage cut in import permits was made by the minister for agriculture, Amran Sulaiman, who keeps his job.
"Darmin Nasution is a good person in the job. He understands the macroeconomy well and I think the market loves him too," said Refly Harun, a Jakarta-based political analyst.
But, with one notable exception, most of those ministers with connections to Mr Joko's political backers remain.
Three of the four co-ordinating ministers were replaced but the daughter of the hugely influential Ms Megawati – Puan Maharani – kept her job, despite being widely derided as ineffective and out of her depth.
Meanwhile, Pramono Anung, a senior member of Ms Megawati's PDI-P party, becomes the new cabinet secretary.
"It's a bit disappointing, it's a bit lacklustre... it's haphazard," said Tobias Basuki, an analyst at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. "A lot of underperformers remain in ministries where there are a lots of problems... It seems to bow completely to the PDI-P."
One minister deemed to have been appointed for connections rather than aptitude – the volatile Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno – was replaced as the co-ordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs.
Mr Tedjo made the remark that Indonesia would flood Australia with a "tsunami" of 10,000 asylum seekers due to its opposition to the executions of Bali nine pair Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. The former Navy chief was a senior figure in the National Democratic Party, a crucial member of Mr Joko's fragile political coalition.
Luhut Panjaitan – Mr Joko's senior adviser, former business partner and an ex-member of the special forces unit Kopassus – replaces Mr Tedjo.
Mr Luhut will oversee a number of ministers across a wide range of portfolios and will play a role in developing Indonesia's response to the growing threat posed by the terrorist group Islamic State, as well as managing unrest in the Papua region.
Rizal Ramli, a US-educated economist and a former minister for finance under president Abdurrahman Wahid, becomes the new coordinating minister for maritime affairs.
The outgoing co-ordinating minister for the economy, Mr Sofyan, is now head of Indonesia's national development planning board.
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