Soeharto unveils cabinet today<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto is expected to announce the
\nlineup of the new cabinet this morning, a presidential household
\nofficial said yesterday.<\/p>\n
M. Basyuni told reporters that the new ministers would be
\ninducted by the President at the State Palace on Monday.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Soeharto will preside over the new cabinet's
\ninaugural meeting, Basyuni said in a short statement.<\/p>\n
This will be the shortest time that Soeharto, appointed to his
\nseventh term in office on Wednesday, has taken to put together
\nhis cabinet. In the past, he has waited at least a week to
\nappoint the cabinet after his election by the People's
\nConsultative Assembly.<\/p>\n
Informed sources said Soeharto began approaching some of the
\nfigures he intends to pick before his March 11 swearing in as
\npresident.<\/p>\n
Soeharto faces pressures from two fronts in naming the
\ncabinet.<\/p>\n
On the one hand, the deepening economic crisis has added to
\nthe urgency for him to form his team, expected to be called the
\nSeventh Development Cabinet, quickly.<\/p>\n
There is, for example, the expected arrival of a team from the
\nInternational Monetary Fund this weekend to discuss the
\ndisbursement of $3 billion in fresh loans. The discussion had
\nbeen delayed pending the formation of the new government.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, there have been strong calls from
\npoliticians for the President to move cautiously, saying that he
\nshould delve into the intended ministers' backgrounds, looking
\nnot only at their professional qualities but also their moral
\nintegrity.<\/p>\n
The calls are part of what has become a year-long chorus for
\ngood governance and clean government.<\/p>\n
Many people feel that the last cabinet was the worst since
\nSoeharto formed his first of six previous administrations in
\n1968. In giving the thumbs down to the Sixth Development Cabinet,
\npoliticians and analysts underscored poor coordination and a lack
\nof ministerial accountability among its greatest shortcomings.<\/p>\n
In the past week, many lists purporting to be the cabinet
\nlineup have circulated, exchanged and swapped through faxes, e-
\nmails and over lunch, dinner or at receptions. Some of these
\nlists looked credible, and others bizarre, but they were all
\nnothing more than speculation in the absence of any official
\nexplanation.<\/p>\n
By yesterday, however, some of these lists had converged so
\nmuch that one Jakarta newspaper even printed the members' photos.<\/p>\n
Some of the names that were on the most talked-about list had
\nalso confirmed that they had been contacted by the President and
\nasked to join the cabinet.<\/p>\n
Some of them have even invited reporters over to their houses
\nthis morning to be present when the announcement is made. Others
\ndistributed their resums to make the journalists' job easier.<\/p>\n
But leading sociologist Loekman Sutrisno gave the thumbs down
\nto the list even before its announcement. He said yesterday, that
\nit did not conform to the people's demands for clean government
\nand the abolition of business monopolies.<\/p>\n
"Going through the names, I think the people and the market
\nwill find it hard to trust some of them," Loekman told reporters
\nin Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
Besides the names, politicians and analysts also speculated
\nabout the strength of various political factions' or individuals'
\ninfluence over Soeharto's decision.<\/p>\n
While selecting the cabinet is the constitutional prerogative
\nof the president, Soeharto has consulted powerful political
\nfigures or institutions in the past.<\/p>\n
Golkar Chairman and House of Representatives Speaker Harmoko
\nyesterday said that although he was not asked by the President to
\nsubmit names, Golkar had prepared a list of its cadres it deemed
\nfit to join the cabinet.<\/p>\n
"If Soeharto felt that these cadres were capable, he would
\nobviously have contacted them directly. He does not have to
\nconsult Golkar," Harmoko told reporters.<\/p>\n
Besides the Golkar Central Executive Board, the Association of
\nIndonesian Moslem Intellectuals (ICMI), headed by now Vice
\nPresident B.J. Habibie, is also often touted as another camp with
\ninfluence over the President.<\/p>\n
ICMI's head of cultural development, Nasir Tamara, however,
\nsaid that the organization was not a political lobby group. "The
\nmost important thing (to ICMI) is that a minister should be wise,
\nfair, honest and ready to defend the nation's interests," Nasir
\nsaid. (prb\/emb\/imn\/23)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/soeharto-unveils-cabinet-today-1447893297",
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