AM Fajar replaces Jusuf Kalla as welfare minister
AM Fajar replaces Jusuf Kalla as welfare minister
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri accepted on Thursday the
resignation of former coordinating minister for people's welfare
Jusuf Kalla and transferred his tasks to Minister of National
Education Abdul Malik Fajar.
"The President appreciates Kalla's way of thinking,"
State/Cabinet Secretary Bambang Kesowo said at his office,
following the issuance of a presidential decree confirming
Kalla's resignation.
He added that he had sent a letter asking Malik to take over
the daily tasks of Kalla's former post.
Kalla submitted a letter of resignation to Megawati on Monday
and informed her of his intention to contest the July 5
presidential election. He has joined the race as former senior
security minister Gen. (ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's running
mate under the Democratic Party banner.
The law requires a minister to quit the Cabinet in order to
join the presidential race.
Asked why Kalla's resignation was accepted through a
presidential decree while Malik's appointment was formalized only
through a letter from the State Secretariat, Bambang replied this
was the official procedure.
The upstart Democratic Party has nominated as presidential
candidate its cofounder, Susilo, who had earlier resigned from
the Cabinet after claiming to have been sidelined by Megawati.
According to the polls, the Susilo-Kalla pair has emerged the
strongest contender in the country's first ever direct
presidential election against all other candidates, including
incumbent President Megawati.
The Democratic Party ranked third in the vote-count as of
Thursday, after top-ranked Golkar Party and Megawati's Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle.
Separately, interim coordinating minister for people's welfare
Malik Fajar said the general election and the resignation of a
few ministers would not affect the government's performance.
"There will be no problem, because all officials under the
former coordinating ministers understand their respective tasks,"
he said after a Cabinet meeting.