Analyst: Prabowo's Cabinet Reshuffle for Power Consolidation
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Great Institute, Syahganda Nainggolan, stated that the recent cabinet reshuffle carried out by President Prabowo Subianto is a form of power consolidation.
Syahganda, during a discussion titled ‘Cabinet Reshuffle: Power Consolidation or Performance Optimisation?’ in Jakarta on Thursday, said that the move aims to strengthen the President’s position amid influences of power that seek to destroy Indonesia.
“If it’s called consolidation, yes, it is consolidation. Why does the President need consolidation? Because of his battle against the oligarchy… against powers that are destroying Indonesia, both from within and from outside,” he said.
He stated that in Prabowo’s view, there are still unseen forces capable of controlling the course of the state, referred to as the term “deep state”.
“The deep state, according to Prabowo, consists of forces that are not visible in the state’s game, but can control the state. This is both locally and internationally,” he said.
To counter this, Syahganda believes that consolidation through a cabinet reshuffle is necessary. He noted that this is also evident from the President’s decision to include activist Jumhur Hidayat in the cabinet, as Minister of Environment.
According to him, Prabowo needs figures with a strong mass base and integrity to confront hidden powers. He described the President’s decision as a step to build an ideological “alliance”.
“Bringing Jumhur into the regime’s environment is certainly for Prabowo’s interest in strengthening, forming alliances, so that their energy, in physics theory, is how the resultant between Jumhur, who represents a progressive, ideological, revolutionary group, meets President Prabowo, who is also revolutionary,” he said.
Meanwhile, governance expert Anton Permana, who also participated as a speaker in the discussion, said that in Indonesia’s political system, reshuffles are a mechanism to maintain stability.
“Because there is no dominant politics, what happens is coalitions. In simple terms, political compromises occur to achieve stabilisation in running the government,” he said.
It is known that President Prabowo conducted a reshuffle of the Merah Putih Cabinet and inaugurated several new officials at the State Palace in Jakarta on Monday (27/4). This is the fifth reshuffle since Prabowo took office.
In the reshuffle, Prabowo inaugurated activist Jumhur Hidayat as Minister of Environment, replacing the previous official, Hanif Faisol. On the same occasion, Hanif Faisol was inaugurated as Deputy Minister Coordinator for Food Affairs.
In addition, the President inaugurated former Army Chief of Staff 2021–2023, Dudung Abdurachman, as Presidential Chief of Staff, replacing Muhammad Qodari, who on that occasion was also inaugurated as Head of the Government Communication Agency.
The President also inaugurated Head of the Presidential Communication Office 2024–2025, Hasan Nasbi, as Special Advisor to the President for Communication, as well as Minister of P2MI 2024–2025, Abdul Kadir Karding, as Head of the Indonesian Quarantine Agency.