Abdurrahman's Cabinet

Abdurrahman's Cabinet

The new Cabinet has been given a negative response by analysts
and business circles. The rupiah slid to Rp 8,430 to the U.S.
dollar while businesspeople and analysts expressed doubts about
certain ministers in key positions. Those developments underline
President Abdurrahman Wahid's willingness to take risks, both
political and economic, as well as to put his own position at
stake.

This fact deserves consideration since the people have been
waiting for a long time for the economy to recover. The
legislature cannot remove the President from office, but unless
the country gets out of the current crisis soon, the credibility
of the head of government will continue to decline.

Putting together the Cabinet is the President's prerogative.
This right has been executed and representatives of non-
governmental organizations, intellectuals, the bureaucracy, the
banking industry and the military are included in the Cabinet.
Several political parties, with the exception of Golkar, also are
included in the lineup.

What people are waiting for now is for Vice President Megawati
Soekarnoputri to be able to steer the Cabinet. This is a unique
situation indeed. The President dominated in composing the
Cabinet, but the Vice President will be in charge of overseeing
it.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta