New Cabinet faces strong opposition<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The new Cabinet has been criticized as having
\nministers lacking in competence and being poorly supported by
\nmajor political parties.<\/p>\n
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais gave a
\nthumbs-down on Wednesday to President Abdurrahman Wahid's new
\nteam, saying it was even worse than the old one in terms of the
\nquality of its personnel.<\/p>\n
"I'm surprised that Gus Dur was not smart enough to learn from
\npast experience. It's regretful that he has wasted his last
\nchance," Amien told reporters in Yogyakarta, referring to
\nAbdurrahman by his popular nickname.<\/p>\n
"I cannot hope too much from the new Cabinet, due in part to
\nits failure to accommodate major political parties like Golkar,
\nIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and
\nothers."<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman's government came under fire at the recently
\nconcluded MPR Annual Session for its failure to cope with the
\nprotracted economic crisis and the threats of national
\ndisintegration.<\/p>\n
The appointment of Prijadi Praptosuhardjo as minister of
\nfinance was an example of Abdurrahman's tendency to give room for
\ncronyism to live in the country, Amien said.<\/p>\n
"Pak Prijadi twice failed to pass a fit-and-proper test for a
\nposition at a state bank. How can we entrust the management of
\n116 state enterprises to him? I'm afraid his arrival at the
\nministry will incite anger among his subordinates," he said.<\/p>\n
The top job at the ministry of finance was formerly held by
\nBambang Sudibyo, who is Amien's trusted man at the National
\nMandate Party (PAN).<\/p>\n
Amien also criticized Gus Dur's choice of Muhammad Mahfud M.D.
\nas the minister of defense to replace Juwono Sudarsono, who, like
\nMahfud, is a civilian.<\/p>\n
"When we are suffering crises in security and defense affairs,
\nGus Dur named Pak Mahfud, who is my junior. I think he fits the
\nminister of justice more than his position now," Amien said.<\/p>\n
Amien also said Abdurrahman had misplaced Rizal Ramli.<\/p>\n
Amien said the President had not consulted him when drafting
\nthe structure of the new Cabinet, not to mention its makeup.<\/p>\n
Golkar, one of the major factions at the House of
\nRepresentatives, concluded the Cabinet lineup reflected the
\nstrong wish of President Abdurrahman to treat the party as an
\nopposition one.<\/p>\n
"President Gus Dur is positioning Golkar as an opposition
\nparty. No problem and Golkar will remain critical of the
\ngovernment," Syamsul Mu'arif, chairman of the Golkar faction at
\nthe House, told The Jakarta Post by phone from Paris.<\/p>\n
Syamsul, along with House Speaker Akbar Tandjung, was stopping
\nover in the French capital en route to an International
\nParliament Union (IPU) meeting in the United States.<\/p>\n
He said Golkar was not disappointed with Gus Dur's decision
\nnot to reappoint party cadres Bomer Pasaribu and Mahadi
\nSinambela. Golkar's support for the Cabinet, he said, would
\ndepend on its performance.<\/p>\n
"We will just wait and see how effective the new Cabinet is
\nin running the government. We will take action if the Cabinet
\nperforms worse than in the past," he said.<\/p>\n
Akbar recently said that apart from having professional
\ncompetence, the new Cabinet should reflect the political
\nconstellation in line with the outcome of the 1999 general
\nelection.<\/p>\n
Several PDI Perjuangan legislators told the Post under
\ncondition of anonymity they were upset by the new Cabinet lineup,
\nand pledged their preparedness to emerge as an opposition party.<\/p>\n
But chairman of the party's faction at the MPR, Sophan
\nSophiaan, played down the discontent among his party cadres,
\nsaying it was better to give the President a chance for another
\nyear.<\/p>\n
The party's voice in the Cabinet now is represented by Sonny
\nKeraf and Bungaran Saragih, who were named state minister of
\nenvironment and minister of agriculture and forestry
\nrespectively.<\/p>\n
"We are not disappointed. It's a presidential prerogative,"
\nSophan said.<\/p>\n
He said that Gus Dur had taken professionalism rather than
\nparty support into account when forming his new Cabinet.<\/p>\n
Sophan questioned Abdurrahman's choice of Prijadi as finance
\nminister, but quickly added that the President had the right to
\nchoose who he wanted.<\/p>\n
Deputy chairman of Abdurrahman's National Awakening Party
\n(PKB), Taufiqurrahman Saleh, saw the new Cabinet lineup as an
\neffort by the President to build a strong system relying on
\npeople rather than party support.<\/p>\n
He also called on the public to give the new Cabinet a chance
\nto prove itself.<\/p>\n
Criticism also came from political observer Ichlasul Amal of
\nGadjah Mada University, who said Abdurrahman could have done
\nnothing apart from compromise when selecting his ministers.<\/p>\n
"Compromise was almost unavoidable due to the President's
\ninability to deal with pressures from political parties," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He speculated that Abdurrahman was trying to ease pressure
\nfrom the House over the alleged misuse of State Logistics Agency
\n(Bulog) funds and financial assistance from the Sultan of Brunei
\nto help the government settle the Aceh problem.<\/p>\n
"It's a dilemma for Gus Dur to recruit only professionals to
\nthe Cabinet," he said.<\/p>\n
He suspected political parties were looking for ministerial
\nposts to help them raise funds to cover their daily
\norganizational needs, particularly in the run-up to the 2004
\ngeneral election.<\/p>\n
Political analyst Aribowo of Surabaya-based Airlangga
\nUniversity was also skeptical, saying the President had failed to
\nlive up to people's wishes to see him recruit individuals with
\nintegrity and competence to ministerial posts.<\/p>\n
"Instead of accelerating economic recovery, the new Cabinet
\nlineup will create new problems," Aribowo said.<\/p>\n
He said the lineup reflected Abdurrahman's preference for
\nlistening to advice from his close confidants. The appointment of
\nPrijadi was one of many examples of Abdurrahman's stubbornness,
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Aribowo predicted bitter rivalry between the President and
\nVice President Megawati Soekarnoputri on one hand and the
\nPresident and major political parties on the other, due to
\nAbdurrahman's failure to reserve adequate seats for the Megawati-
\nled PDI Perjuangan and the Golkar Party, which between them hold
\n273 of the 500 House seats.<\/p>\n
Aribowo said he was sure the fact that Megawati failed to turn
\nup for the Cabinet announcement was a sign that the Vice
\nPresident did not welcome the new lineup.<\/p>\n
Another observer, Hermawan Sulistyo, highlighted the
\nPresident's option for Mahfud as the minister of defense.<\/p>\n
"He has never shown an interest in defense issues," Hermawan
\nsaid of Mahfud, a professor of constitutional law at the
\nIndonesian Islamic University in Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
Hermawan said given his educational background and close ties
\nwith Gajah Mada University, Mahfud would be expected to
\ncollaborate with the Center for Defense and Peace Studies at
\nGajah Mada University which is chaired by education minister
\nYahya Muhaimin.<\/p>\n
"Yahya is well-accepted by the Indonesian Military (TNI) and
\nthrough Yahya, Mahfud may accommodate TNI's interests," said
\nHermawan.<\/p>\n
Political analyst from the University of Indonesia Arbi
\nSanit said Abdurrahman's government would face strong opposition
\nfrom major political parties under-represented in the new
\nCabinet.<\/p>\n
"President Abdurrahman Wahid has fulfilled his promise to
\nrecruit professionals, but he can no longer rely on political
\nsupport from either PDI Perjuangan or Golkar," Arbi said.<\/p>\n
He suggested that Abdurrahman handle the strong opposition by
\nkeeping the Cabinet solid and clean and encouraging the ministers
\nto take more initiatives.<\/p>\n
He hailed Abdurrahman's decision to pick Mahfud as the defense
\nminister, saying civilian supremacy over the military must be
\nmaintained.<\/p>\n
Separately, Ikrar Nusabakti, a researcher at the National
\nInstitute of Sciences (LIPI) predicted a gloomy future for the
\nCabinet.<\/p>\n
Ikrar said it would face difficulties in coping with economic
\nand financial problems because the President appointed new faces,
\nwhereas the old tandem of Kwik Kian Gie and Bambang Sudibyo had
\nalready found their form.<\/p>\n
"Of course, these choices will upset the market and I am
\nafraid the rupiah will start to weaken," he said.<\/p>\n
Ikrar criticized Abdurrahman's failure to put the right people
\nin the right places.<\/p>\n
"Why should foreign minister Alwi Shihab be maintained while
\npeople know he has done nothing for the past ten months in
\noffice?" he asked. (team)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/new-cabinet-faces-strong-opposition-1447893297",
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