Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto (front centre), and Vice-President Gibran Rakabuming Raka (front row fourth from right) pose for a group photo with newly-appointed Cabinet Ministers after their swearing-in ceremony, at Merdeka Palace, in Jakarta, Indonesia, on October 21, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP
Newly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto announced Indonesia’s largest-ever Cabinet on Sunday (October 20, 2024), with 109 members representing his pledge for a strong government. He named his Cabinet of Ministers, Vice-Ministers and head of national agencies the “Red and White Cabinet”, referring to the colours of Indonesia’s flag.
Mr. Subianto became the eighth president of Southeast Asia’s largest economy on Sunday (October 20, 2024). The Cabinet of Mr. Subianto’s predecessor Joko Widodo had 34 Ministers and head of government agencies.
Mr. Subianto has said earlier that he needs a strong administration, even though analysts said that his “fat” Cabinet would bloat the bureaucracy.
Indonesia election 2024 | What’s at stake as the world’s third-largest democracy elects a new president
“I want to create a strong government that would unite our multicultural society and diverse political interests,” Mr. Subianto said before inviting more than 100 people for interviews at his residence last week. “It must be a big coalition and some will say my Cabinet is fat.”
The Cabinet features politicians from a coalition of seven parties who supported his victory in the February election and figures allied with Mr. Widodo’s Cabinet, who were reappointed to continue their jobs under Mr. Subianto’s Presidency. Analysts said the move was a political reward to Mr. Widodo for the latter’s tacit support in the election.
Mr. Subianto was sworn in with his new Vice-President, 37-year-old Surakarta former Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka. He chose Raka, who is Mr. Widodo’s son, as his running mate, with Mr. Widodo favouring Mr. Subianto over the candidate of his own former party.
The former rivals became tacit allies, even though Indonesian Presidents don’t typically endorse candidates. Mr. Subianto was a longtime rival of Mr. Widodo, who ran against him for the Presidency twice and refused to accept his defeat on both occasions, in 2014 and 2019.
Editorial | A strongman at the helm: On Indonesia’s presidential election
But Mr. Widodo appointed Mr. Subianto as defence chief after his reelection, paving the way for an alliance despite their rival political parties. During the campaign, Mr. Subianto ran as the popular outgoing President’s heir, vowing to continue signature policies such as the construction of a multibillion-dollar new capital city and limits on exporting raw materials intended to boost domestic industry.
Backed by Mr. Widodo, Mr. Subianto swept to a landslide victory in February’s direct Presidential election on promises of policy continuity. Mr. Subianto reappointed nearly half of Mr. Widodo’s Cabinet members, including Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, making her the first person to hold the Ministry under three different Presidents.
Ms. Indrawati (62), who has served as the executive director of the International Monetary Fund and managing director of the World Bank, is one of Indonesia’s longest-serving Finance Ministers, having held the post for long stretches under Presidents Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Joko Widodo.
She has earned considerable respect in international circles, particularly for her reforms of the chaotic Indonesian taxation system and her role in steering Indonesia through the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We regularly consulted with each other to discuss strategies for strengthening the Finance Ministry and the state finances to support his programmes,” Ms. Indrawati told reporters after meeting with Mr. Subianto last week.
Other Ministers from Mr. Widodo’s Cabinet include Interior Minister Tito Karnavian, Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan, Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir.
Mr. Subianto has announced an ambitious goal of increasing annual economic growth to 8% by the end of his five-year term and embarking on an ambitious spending programme, including an increase in defence spending, hikes in civil servants’ salaries and a programme to give 83 million children free meals.
Published – October 21, 2024 11:26 am IST
