Ministers begin feeling heat on cabinet reshuffle rumors<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Justice Muladi said yesterday that
\nhe did not know to what extent the cabinet would be reshuffle,
\nbut those who were obviously being replaced were feeling the
\nheat.<\/p>\n
\"All ministers in the Seventh Development Cabinet have to be
\nready for the reshuffle. I personally don't just who will be
\nincluded in it, but I'm sure they are already feeling it,\" he
\nsaid in Semarang, Central Java, yesterday.<\/p>\n
Muladi maintained that everyone who had been selected for the
\ncabinet last March should be ready and accepting of a reshuffle.<\/p>\n
He said the reshuffle could be both a change in ministers or
\neven a restructuring of the whole cabinet.<\/p>\n
House Of Representatives Speaker Harmoko said after meeting
\nwith Soeharto on Saturday that the President would soon reshuffle
\nthe cabinet.<\/p>\n
No details were given on when this would happen or what
\npositions would be affected by the reshuffle.<\/p>\n
No clear reason was given for such a drastic measure with the
\ntwo-month old cabinet, which has left the past two days full of
\nspeculation.<\/p>\n
\"Since we need a strong cabinet, the President has decided to
\nchange and reshuffle the cabinet,\" was the only grounds given by
\nHarmoko on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The decision could be the most drastic and earliest reshuffle
\nconducted during Soeharto's presidency.<\/p>\n
Muladi told journalists yesterday that a ministerial post was
\na mandate and a trust bequeathed to an individual, thus that
\nperson should be ready to be judged and have their post taken
\naway from them if deemed necessary.<\/p>\n
\"This means that if the people judge that an individual has
\nfailed, well then he or she should be placed back in the pen,\" he
\nremarked as quoted by Antara.<\/p>\n
Muladi hailed the decision as an important move to regain the
\npublic's trust in the government and also lessen the glare of the
\ninternational spotlight which had been heavily focused on
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
But he seemed pensive when asked whether or not the move would
\nrekindle the public's declining trust.<\/p>\n
\"Well it (the reshuffle) is a very important move, something
\nwhich has been demanded by the people, and the President has
\ngrasped these aspirations,\" he said.<\/p>\n
When pressed further on whether the reshuffle was to deter
\naccusations of nepotism, Muladi said he thought it could have
\nsomething to do with it.<\/p>\n
\"I don't really know what was delivered by Pak Harmoko, which
\nwas said by the President,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Separately, the dean of Diponegoro University's School of
\nGovernmental Law School, Soehardjo, questioned the decision to
\nreshuffle the cabinet and wondered whether it would really help
\nresolve the dire problems faced by the country.<\/p>\n
\"Judging by the people's demands so far, it really hasn't been
\na reshuffle of the cabinet that is being demanded, but calls for
\nreform in the political, economic and legal fields,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He argued that a reshuffle would only supplement the people
\nwithin the cabinet and not replace the basic policies being
\npursued. Thus things would probably continue running the way they
\nalready were, he added.<\/p>\n
Soehardjo, who was a legislator from 1987 to 1992, added that
\nthe President should be more willing to listen to the House of
\nRepresentatives and the Supreme Advisory Council during the
\ninitial selection process of the cabinet.<\/p>\n
He added that the President should also be firm with his
\nministers no matter how close their personal relationship might
\nbe.<\/p>\n
\"The President should not feel abashed. If a person hasn't
\ndone a good job, even though that person may be personally close
\nto the President, then that person shouldn't be selected,\" he
\nsaid. (mds)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ministers-begin-feeling-heat-on-cabinet-reshuffle-rumors-1447893297",
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