Cabinet lineup little changed

JAKARTA (JP): Little changes are expected to be made in the structure of the coming Cabinet of President Megawati Soekarnoputri, with some old faces likely to be maintained.

Speaking to reporters after a one-hour meeting with Megawati, Vice President Hamzah Haz said, however, negotiations to place the right person in the right post had taken extra time, with the announcement of its lineup to be made within next week.

Hamzah said the government was not in a hurry to establish the new Cabinet as it did not want to have frequent Cabinet changes, as in the previous government.

"The habit of frequently changing members of the Cabinet should not be continued," Hamzah said.

It was the first meeting between Megawati and Hamzah, who chair the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) and United Development Party (PPP) respectively, to discuss the drafting of the Cabinet. The talks took place at the vice presidential office on Jl. Medan Merdeka Selatan, Central Jakarta.

"The coming lineup will have to be the best choice after careful consideration, so we can establish a strong Cabinet," said Hamzah.

Later in the day Megawati held meetings with the National Mandate Party (PAN) Chairman and People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais at her official residence on Jl. Teuku Umar, also in Central Jakarta.

She was also scheduled to hold talks with Golkar Party Chairman and House of Representatives (DPR) Speaker Akbar Tandjung, but until late in the evening there was no confirmation whether the meeting would take place.

Separately, PDI Perjuangan secretary-general Soetjipto said that Megawati had kept the official date to announce the Cabinet lineup and its personnel a secret, even from her inner circle.

"All I heard is that she may maintain the structure of the old Cabinet and some of the incumbent ministers may also be maintained if necessary," Soetjipto told journalists at the House compound.

Deciding the Cabinet lineup will be the first test of managerial competence for Megawati, who rose to power at the expense of former president Abdurrahman Wahid.

Shortly after her installation last week, the new President said she would reveal her Cabinet within days.

A source close to Amien told The Jakarta Post that during the brief meeting at Megawati's official residence, the President restricted herself to basic issues of the Cabinet and fell short of naming any ministerial candidates.

"She only underlined the importance of keeping political stability and maintaining the political allegiance among them," the source said.

"On the Cabinet issue she just told Pak Amien to keep the current structure of the Cabinet intact to avoid major changes in the government."

Amien, reportedly agreed with the proposal but underlined that Megawati should change most of the people in the present Cabinet.

The PAN official further disclosed that since Megawati did not speak about ministerial candidates, Amien did not put forth his best candidates for ministerial posts, who are Bambang Sudibyo and Hatta Radjasa.

Bambang once served as the minister of finance under the Abdurrahman government and may regain his post, while Hatta, who is PAN's secretary-general, has been tipped to head the ministry of transportation or ministry of energy and mineral resources.

When asked about the delay, the source said: "There were tough conflicts of interest among the PDI Perjuangan officials, which were difficult to settle."

Separately, Akbar said that he had yet to provide any names for Megawati's Cabinet because the President had never offered the party certain posts to fill.

He underlined that it is the prerogative of the President to elect the ministers and Golkar would only provide names should the President ask it to do so.

Golkar executive Syamsul Muarif said that the party welcomes any position and is ready to be excluded from the government if deemed necessary.

Surprisingly, the National Awakening Party (PKB), which had announced its opposition to the MPR Special Session, stated that it would not forbid any of its members from joining the new Cabinet should the President offers any position.

"As party' policy doesn't forbid member from joining the Cabinet, we will not punish our members who accept the President's offer to join the Cabinet," secretary of the PKB's law making body Arifin Junaidi said.

Arifin, however, said that "the President had yet to call the party for help."

Caretaker state minister for women's empowerment Khofifah Indar Parawansa has been touted to fill in a certain post in Megawati's Cabinet lineup, aside from the party's dismissed chairman Matori Abdul Djalil. (dja/tso)