Preparing for Cabinet II: No need for coalitions<\/p>\n
James Van Zorge, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Speculation and rumors about a new cabinet -- who is in and
\nwho is out -- has become the favored topic during Jakarta's
\nevening Ramadhan meal. Already, incumbents and aspiring players
\nare busy slinging mud at their opponents while posturing, cutting
\nbackroom deals, and building alliances.<\/p>\n
In the minds of spectators and participants, the mostly likely
\nvictors in this game of high-stakes political poker are those
\nplayers who can sell themselves at the expense of their
\ncompetitors. It will be wise for them to position themselves near
\nthose who have Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's ear and can make a
\ndifference in helping him choose a new cabinet.<\/p>\n
While this makes for interesting news copy, all of the energy
\nbeing spent by ministerial aspirants may be for naught. Insiders
\nare saying that Susilo has started to evaluate the performance of
\nhis ministers and weigh his options on a new cabinet. Susilo also
\nis reportedly trying his best to insulate himself from the
\njockeying crowd by spending less time in the Palace and more time
\nin the privacy of his residence.<\/p>\n
And so it should be. Susilo is well-advised to surround
\nhimself with people that he can trust and are able to provide him
\nwith good intelligence and advice on cabinet appointments.<\/p>\n
Above all, Susilo should be able to utilize his inner-circle's
\ncollective wisdom to select a cabinet that is, first of all, seen
\nas a significant improvement over the current team and, second,
\nas a team that he can call his own. Susilo's evaluations of the
\ncurrent team should be based, foremost, on performance, integrity
\nand loyalty. On this score, we would hope that he will use the
\nhighest standards.<\/p>\n
As a performance metric, Susilo should pose the question of
\nwhether or not a minister has made a substantial contribution
\ntoward improving the public services within his portfolio. This
\nmeans not only making the right decisions for the sake of the
\npublic interest but also being able to finesse bureaucratic
\npolitics. This ensures that once a decision is made, it gets done
\nproperly and is not sabotaged by unwilling actors, while going
\nforward without unnecessary delays.<\/p>\n
In a word, to be smart is not enough -- a high performer in
\ngovernment should also possess a keen sense of responsibility
\ntoward the public and know how to navigate the choppy
\nbureaucratic waters.<\/p>\n
Then there is the issue of integrity. Here, it is not only a
\nquestion of not having been a subject of investigations or legal
\nproceedings involving a criminal activity. In previous
\nadministrations, there have been many government officials who
\nwere widely acknowledged as being crooks yet, at the same time,
\nmanaged to keep their jobs and themselves out of court.<\/p>\n
The arms of justice may be crippled, but rarely in public life
\ncan skeletons be hidden in the closet for long. Like in any other
\ncapital city, Jakarta's political cognoscenti know a lot about
\nreputations, and it is this intelligence that the President
\nshould pay attention to for weeding out those with tarnished
\nreputations. To do otherwise will, ultimately, hurt his
\nreputation before the public.<\/p>\n
Finally, the President must ask himself, has his team been
\nloyal?<\/p>\n
Because the current cabinet consists of a loose coalition of
\nindividuals tied to various political parties, it should come as
\nno surprise if the so-called Unity Cabinet has been subject to
\ncompeting interests and hence, a lack of loyalty to the
\nPresident.<\/p>\n
There will always be those that argue because Susilo comes
\nfrom a small party he has no other choice than to work with a
\ncoalition cabinet. We would vehemently argue that such thinking
\nis flawed, and closer inspection of the facts suggests otherwise.<\/p>\n
In the first instance, party leaders who are demanding
\nministerial titles for their favored sons and daughters should be
\nbrought to the table and asked, what benefits have coalition
\npolitics brought to the Palace so far?<\/p>\n
Some might argue that a coalition cabinet buys party
\nallegiance in the national parliament. Our analysis reveals,
\nhowever, that this is far from the truth. Under the current
\ncoalition cabinet, scant legislation has been passed by the DPR.
\nAn exception would be Golkar's acquiescence to having fuel
\nsubsidies lifted.<\/p>\n
But besides acting in a time of crisis that was clearly in the
\nnational interest, what else has Susilo's majority coalition
\npartner been doing to advance the President's agenda for reform?
\nFor that matter, what have other parties that obtained
\nministerial posts been doing inside the DPR to prove their
\nallegiance to the so-called coalition?<\/p>\n
Still others argue that Susilo needs to pay patronage to
\npolitical parties in order to secure support for the 2009
\nelections. Again, the facts suggest otherwise. Party leaders seem
\nto have conveniently forgotten that Susilo handsomely won the
\n2004 elections despite having not played coalition politics.<\/p>\n
Many voters, without any prompting by their party's
\nleadership, decided to cross party lines and vote for Susilo
\nbecause they felt he was the best candidate. If Susilo performs
\nwell during the remaining years of his tenure in office, why
\nshould we believe that voters would act any differently?<\/p>\n
What matters most is that in this presidential system
\ncoalition politics are a luxury and not a necessity as in
\nEuropean parliamentary democracies. Susilo has already given
\npolitical parties outside his own the party the chance to prove
\nthemselves -- if they have failed, why should he feel compelled
\nto give them another chance? Moreover, why should he compromise
\nthe quality of his cabinet for the sake of a ritual that makes no
\npolitical sense?<\/p>\n
As they make their demands for continued patronage, what the
\nparties should be reminded of is that it was not they who put
\nSusilo into the Palace. Rather, it was the electorate; the final
\ntest for Susilo, in their minds, is whether or not his
\nadministration will perform on promises of an improved economy.
\nMore likely than not, Susilo's ability to deliver on prosperity
\nwill depend on having a highly capable team that is committed to
\nhis platform of prosperity and reform -- and nothing else.<\/p>\n
The writer is a senior partner of Van Zorge, Heffernan &
\nAssociates, a government relations consulting firm based in
\nJakarta. He can be reached at jvzorge@rad.net.id.<\/p>",
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