Cabinet people

Commonly, Indonesian Cabinet members throughout the years have fitted a general stereotype. More often than not, these leaders were highly educated Javanese male Muslims their 50s. They were generally also officials, either from the bureaucracy, the Golkar Party or its affiliates, or from the ranks of the military.

Any deviation from this stereotype is always a fresh break as the nation comprises a much wider range of interests than this stereotype reflects. In a widely diverse country such as Indonesia, setting up a body of decision makers that more or less reflects the nation's diversity is a smart first act of goodwill from a president; indicating the leader recognizes differences among the people and is willing to work with and for all of them.

The plurality reflected in the United Indonesia Cabinet installed on Thursday should be welcomed. A dozen out of the 36 members are from outside Java, which increasingly became the country's center of power under former strongman Soeharto, accumulating ire from non-Javanese and leading to issues we are all still learning to deal with.

The source of Cabinet members these days is no longer limited to the boringly predictable sources of the "big Golkar family" -- the bureaucracy, party executives or the military.

Today, business representatives, academics and professionals mix with bureaucrats, some former ministers, a handful of retired military and police officers, and politicians in the new Cabinet.

Wider access to higher education has enabled presidents to seek executive members from among the best-schooled of the country's sons and daughters, and very few of the current members are without a postgraduate degree.

However, of the ministers, only four are non-Muslims and four are women -- the latter figure in keeping with the promise made earlier by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Many people may understandably wish the Cabinet was more representative of the country's minorities. One could also raise criticism about the number of women, for instance, which could be much higher; at least 30 percent in line with a United Nations study recommending this as the "strategic minimum" of women in decision-making positions internationally.

One could also lament the skewed age demographic of this Cabinet, which has 25 members who are over 50. There is thus little hope for the kind of fresh air in the executive here brought about by younger ministers in neighboring countries, who not so long ago raised eyebrows among gray-haired leaders of Southeast Asia's regional bodies as they gently nudged at the region's sacred creed of non-interference in other countries' political affairs.

Nonetheless, the symbolic diversity in this Cabinet is a good starting point to enable the President to become, as he said in his maiden speech, a president "for each and every Indonesian."

This goal requires the ability and insight to look beyond the political interests that bind him, interests which were already evident in the Cabinet selection and which have raised questions as to how much the President really cares about certain issues affecting the majority of the people.

"To protect each Indonesian soul," as he also said, would mean Susilo going repeatedly back to his notes when he toured the vast country to hear as much as possible what the people wanted.

For the people have grown impatient with their lot and hold high hopes of change despite repeated warnings against expecting too much.

All eyes are now on the concrete short and medium-term plans, which will soon be issued from each ministry. At the end of the day, merit alone will be the sole judgment of this Cabinet and its actions will overshadow the brief appreciation of its novelty.