Akbar approves Cabinet reshuffle<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung
\nhinted on Tuesday that a Cabinet reshuffle may be an appropriate
\nresponse to the House's memorandum of censure to the President.<\/p>\n
Akbar remarked that a Cabinet reshuffle may be important to
\nimprove the government's performance and as a means of
\nacknowledging the concerns of the House on the performance of the
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
However, he stressed that it was the prerogative of the
\nPresident to change the Cabinet lineup.<\/p>\n
\"It is the prerogative of the President to shakeup his
\nCabinet. It is also the President's right to choose the people in
\nthe government lineup,\" he told journalists on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
When asked, however, Akbar, who is also Golkar Party chairman,
\nsaid that he would not ask for seats in the Cabinet.<\/p>\n
But if the President asks Golkar to suggest candidates, it
\nwill oblige, he added.<\/p>\n
\"It will depend on the position and the urgency to put one of
\nGolkar's cadres in the Cabinet, but if the country needs it then
\nit would be OK by me,\" Akbar remarked.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a presidential spokesman denied on Tuesday rumors
\nof an impending Cabinet reshuffle amid increasing calls on
\nPresident Abdurrahman Wahid to give more power to his deputy,
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri.<\/p>\n
\"No. There is no plan to reshuffle the Cabinet in the near
\nfuture,\" presidential spokesman Yahya Staquf told reporters at
\nMerdeka Palace.<\/p>\n
A Cabinet source had said earlier that Abdurrahman might
\nreshuffle the Cabinet before or after an upcoming 15-day overseas
\ntrip to the Middle East and Africa.<\/p>\n
The President, the source said, wanted to shore up support for
\nhis presidency and would likely give more power to Megawati in
\ndeciding the ministerial lineup. (byg\/dja)<\/p>",
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