Synergy in Cabinet<\/p>\n
President Abdurrahman Wahid finally had the sense of doing
\nwhat many critics have been telling him to do these past few
\nmonths: revamp his economic team. By invoking his constitutional
\nprerogative, on Monday, the President replaced Minister of
\nIndustry and Trade Yusuf Kalla and State Minister of Investment
\nand State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi with Lt. Gen. Luhut
\nPanjaitan and Rozy Munir.<\/p>\n
From the time he was elected President, Gus Dur has been
\nreluctant to use his prerogative in appointing and replacing his
\nCabinet. He even began in October with a Cabinet that was
\nvirtually imposed on him by the political organizations,
\nincluding the Indonesian Military (TNI), which helped to get him
\nelected as an underdog presidential candidate.<\/p>\n
Gus Dur has since made it clear that he was unhappy with some
\nof the choices made for him. Yet, since the President alone, and
\nnot his Cabinet, will be held accountable when the administration
\nends its term in 2004, Gus Dur should never hesitate to change
\nthe Cabinet if and when he sees fit.<\/p>\n
With the country's economy still in the doldrums after six
\nmonths in office, naturally, a lot of the criticisms have been
\ntargeted at Gus Dur's economic team. Teamwork in the Cabinet is
\nsorely lacking, but this should come as no surprise given that
\nthese ministers came from political parties with diverse
\nideological backgrounds.<\/p>\n
This much was admitted by the President when he said that the
\nlatest reshuffling was needed in order to bring about more
\nharmony and synergy within the Cabinet.<\/p>\n
Few people, except Golkar supporters, would quibble over the
\nremoval of Kalla from the strategic ministry. Rumors of his
\nreplacement have been strong since December. The only mysterious
\nthing about his replacement was why it took Gus Dur so long.<\/p>\n
The departure of Laksamana from the Cabinet could, however,
\nposes more serious problems for Gus Dur. Given his impeccable
\nbackground and high integrity, Laksamana has actually given a lot
\nof prestige to Gus Dur's Cabinet. Remove him and you stand to
\nlose some of that prestige just when the President badly needs it
\nto shore up confidence among the public, not to mention investors
\nat home and abroad.<\/p>\n
The removal of Laksamana has also sent signals, rightly or
\nwrongly, that a fierce power struggle has been going on between
\nmajor political parties to seize control over the billions of
\ndollars of assets under state companies supervised by his office.<\/p>\n
Over the last few months, the public has become aware of the
\npersonal battles between Laksamana and his secretary Rozy over
\nthe appointments of CEOs of major state companies. Not only did
\nRozy win these battles, but he has now taken over Laksamana's
\njob. The most troubling aspect of this battle is that Rozy is a
\nsenior member of, or at least is closely associated with, Gus
\nDur's National Awakening Party (PKB).<\/p>\n
The President now needs to explain to the public in greater
\ndetail the reason why Laksamana was removed. He must also give
\nhis personal assurances that Rozy's appointment will not lead to
\na new kind of KKN (collusion, corruption and nepotism), and that
\nPKB will not use state companies as milk cows the way Golkar did
\nfor more than 30 years when it was in control of the government.<\/p>\n
One thing that can be said about the appointment of Luhut and
\nRozy to the Cabinet is that since they are both Gus Dur's
\nchoices, they must at least share the President's vision. They
\nshould therefore fit well within the team. Neither of them are
\ncomplete novices in their new jobs either. As Indonesian
\nambassador to Singapore, Luhut has been exposed to the world of
\ncommerce. Similarly, Rozy has been practically manning the helm
\nof his office these past few months.<\/p>\n
Competency is a crucial criteria for selecting a minister, but
\nnot as crucial as having a common vision and purpose with the
\nPresident. Given the way he was elected to the presidency, Gus
\nDur has had to accept ministers who not only have different
\nvisions, but also those who serve different bosses.<\/p>\n
By the look of it, the President will still have to make more
\nchanges before we can expect to see real harmony and teamwork in
\nthe Cabinet. Prime targets for the next round of reshuffle should
\nbe ministers who have openly opposed Gus Dur's proposal to lift
\nthe 34-year ban on communists. When it comes to his Cabinet, the
\nPresident should use his prerogative more often. And the sooner
\nhe replaces ministers who have different vision from his own, the
\nbetter it will be, not only for the Cabinet, but also for the
\nnation.<\/p>",
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