An unfavorable performance review of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Cabinet led many to believe the President would carry out a comprehensive reshuffle of his ministers, but fear of losing political support may rule out any such a restructure, experts say.
“I am sure the President won’t carry out a major reshuffle. He still needs support from political parties,” Indonesia Survey Institute senior researcher Burhanuddin Mukhtadi told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
Burhanuddin pointed out that Yudhoyono would likely take into account recent developments before restructuring his Cabinet, including a fresh ruling issued by the Constitutional Court on a clause in the 2009 Law on the People’s Consultative Assembly, Regional Representatives Councils and the Regional Legislative Councils that makes it easier for legislators to impeach a president.
Burhanuddin said Yudhoyono would avoid any move that might irk his supporters, such as replacing ministers from parties within the pro-government coalition.
“A Cabinet shakedown will certainly make the political parties unhappy,” he said.
He also suggested that Yudhoyono might do well to consider a recent statement from Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri.
“Megawati has said that the party [PDI-P] will not join the coalition with the government,” Burhanuddin said.
On Thursday, top presidential aide Kuntoro Mangkusubroto said he had submitted the Cabinet evaluation results to the President. Two of four ministers in the Cabinet were given “red marks”, Kuntoro said.
Yudhoyono’s Cabinet consists of 35 ministers, more than half of them come from the coalition parties. Rumors of a major shakedown surfaced following rising tension in the ruling coalition amid boiling rivalry between the Golkar Party and Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party over some contentious issues, including the special status of Yogyakarta.
Siti Zuhro, an expert on regional autonomy with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, said that right now Yudhoyono was in an unfavorable position.
“The fact that most ministers who belong to political parties have set their own agendas makes it difficult for Yudhoyono to control his Cabinet. It is difficult for Yudhoyono to ensure commitment from the ministers in carrying out the development programs,” she said.
Yudhoyono, she added, would likely prefer to maintain good relations with political parties rather than spoil them.
“A peaceful relationship sometimes spells status quo,” she said.
Concurring with Siti Zuhro, Burhanuddin said he was disappointed by the lack of progress made by the Cabinet.
“You can see there has been no progress in micro-economic sectors, for instance. Since most ministers are from political parties, they have no capability to handle their respective fields,” he said.
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