New Cabinet to start work on Oct. 20<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Bogor<\/p>\n
President-in-waiting Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono vows not to waste
\ntime in the first days of his administration, saying his Cabinet
\nwill start working as soon as he takes office on Oct. 20.<\/p>\n
Susilo said on Sunday he would step up efforts to select his
\nCabinet members shortly after the General Elections Commission
\n(KPU) announced the official result of the presidential election
\non Oct. 5.<\/p>\n
"I expect all the ministers to immediately serve the people
\nwho have been demanding recovery programs in all fields," Susilo
\nsaid at his residence in Cikeas, near the West Java town of
\nBogor.<\/p>\n
All presidents in the previous periods spent weeks to form
\ntheir Cabinets.<\/p>\n
It took the incumbent president, Megawati Soekarnoputri, 20
\ndays to select her Cabinet members after she was sworn in to
\nreplace president Abdurrahman Wahid on July 23, 2001. Megawati at
\nthat time had to accommodate the political parties which
\ncontributed to her ascension.<\/p>\n
With nearly 110 million of the estimated 125 million votes
\ncounted as of Sunday, Susilo took a commanding lead with 61
\npercent of the vote over Megawati's 39 percent.<\/p>\n
The KPU expects to start the manual vote counting on Oct. 1.
\nThe official outcome of the election will be based on the manual
\ncount.<\/p>\n
"Within the coming days, my priority is to consolidate and
\nreconcile with many sides, as well as to monitor the vote
\ncounting and prepare all steps necessary to assist me carry out
\nmy duties if I am elected to serve the nation.<\/p>\n
Presidential candidates who contested the Sept. 20 runoff are
\ngiven the opportunity to dispute the election outcome.<\/p>\n
The new members of the People Consultative's Assembly who will
\ntake office on Oct. 1 will install the elected president on Oct.
\n20.<\/p>\n
Rumor has it that Susilo and Jusuf Kalla have reportedly
\nalready discussed the composition of their Cabinet with certain
\nparties that supported the pairing in the runoff. The Democratic
\nParty which Susilo cofounded, the Indonesian Justice and Unity
\nParty (PKPI) and the Crescent Star Party (PBB) would reportedly
\nget two ministerial posts each, while the Prosperous Justice
\nParty (PKS) one.<\/p>\n
Kalla had earlier said that professionals would fill 60
\npercent of Cabinet posts, with the rest going to political
\nparties.<\/p>\n
Susilo flatly denied the rumors and said he would announce his
\nCabinet lineup on Oct. 5.<\/p>\n
"Information being circulated through text messages say that I
\nhave already called the ministerial candidates to come to my
\nhouse. I must underline that the reports are baseless," Susilo
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, PKS chairman Hidayat Nur Wahid called on the next
\ngovernment to prevent the planned national security council from
\nturning into something akin to Malaysia's Internal Security Act
\n(ISA).<\/p>\n
Whoever is guilty must be punished but those proven to be
\ninnocent should not be stigmatized, he said.<\/p>\n
"Innocent Muslims should not be stigmatized simply because a
\nsmall number of Muslims have committed crimes," Hidayat said, in
\nthe context of the ongoing war on terror.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/new-cabinet-to-start-work-on-oct-20-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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