A conservative Cabinet

A conservative Cabinet

For much of the past week, the nation has been so consumed by
speculating about who President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will
pick as his Cabinet ministers.

The guessing game ended just before midnight on Wednesday with
the announcement of the 35-strong Cabinet by President Susilo.

Why this becomes such a major national pastime with each new
government is clear: The composition of the Cabinet is just as
crucial as who is elected president in charting the course of
Indonesia's development.

Our verdict: The United Indonesia Cabinet appears to be
conservative, probably in more ways than one.

The inclusion of many old faces in the Cabinet, as well as of
older -- rather than younger -- ministers, defies the reason
Susilo was elected.

Most analysts agree that Susilo owed his landslide victory
last month over former president Megawati Soekarnoputri largely
to the people's desire for change. And many saw, or rather hoped,
that Susilo would be a credible alternative to Megawati.

The presence of former ministers who served in either the
Megawati or the Abdurrahman Wahid administration sends the wrong
sign about the willingness and ability of the new Cabinet to make
the necessary social, political and economic changes the people
want.

Let us hope that the few new faces and next-generation
ministers will prove us wrong.

At first glance, the Cabinet's composition looks like a good
mix of people selected either for their professional competence
or their political background. Both are equally important.

Since Susilo's small Democratic Party does not control the
House of Representatives, he needed to recruit some politicians
who could help push his policies through. That much is clear.
What is less clear is whether he had picked the right politicians
to serve the purpose.

There are also one or two individuals with dubious track
records, but this was probably inevitable, given the compromises
the President has had to make in selecting his Cabinet.

The bigger question that arose after the President announced
his Cabinet does not concern the lineup so much as the process
that led to his final decision.

Many of the individuals he selected appeared in various media
reports this past week because they had been seen going in and
out of Susilo's residence in Cikeas, Bogor. His team also leaked
the names of interviewees deliberately to observe public
reactions. If the President intended to give the impression of a
transparent process, however, the final days leading up to the
announcement remained shrouded in mystery.

It is obvious from the way names appeared and then disappeared
in the prospective lineup that the selection process was far from
smooth, tampered by various political forces and figures,
including Vice President Jusuf Kalla. In spite of assurances that
Susilo and Susilo alone possessed the authority to select his
ministerial team, he continued to be subject to these political
forces. This also explains why the announcement of the Cabinet on
Wednesday was delayed by nearly four hours.

The final Cabinet lineup is the result of political
compromises reached between the President and those who, rightly
or wrongly, claimed to have helped him win the election.

It is difficult, however, to ignore the impression that Susilo
may have made too many compromises. His remarking that he could
not please everyone, as humble as it may have sounded, seemed to
indicate a President who had tried hard to accommodate the
various demands without putting his foot down.

Many inevitably see this as another sign of indecisiveness on
the part of the new President, in spite of the huge mandate he
received from the people to lead them in the way he sees fit.

Appointing ministers is really about picking the right women
and men for the right job, not about appeasing the people,
politicians or parties.

The President completed the unenviable task of putting
together a ministerial team to help lead this nation of 220
million people for the next five years, and for good or ill, the
Cabinet has been set. Only time will tell whether he did the
right thing.

In the end, the Cabinet will be seen as Susilo's, no matter
the influence others may have played in the selection process. It
is his presidency, and it is his credibility that he has put on
the line.

The President has made his decision. The least the nation can
do now is to let him and his administration work and prove their
worth. We wish them all a successful endeavor -- more for our
sake than theirs.