Evaluations completed, Cabinet moves expected

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has finished evaluating the performance of all his ministers, Cabinet secretary Sudi Silalahi said on Tuesday, as expectations run high the President will reshuffle the executive to boost its performance.

Sudi said that the results of the evaluations would be announced after Idul Fitri.

"The evaluations have already been completed," he said as quoted by Antara, moments before leaving the West Nusa Tenggara capital of Mataram for Jakarta.

Sudi was in Mataram accompanying Susilo, who was opening several development projects in the province. He declined to give more details, including whether the evaluations would lead to a reshuffle.

Susilo, who comes from the small Democratic Party but managed to win in the country's first direct presidential election in 2004, has promised to evaluate the performance of his ministers after one year in office.

Several surveys have shown public opinion is behind the President immediately replacing poor-performing ministers with professionals, especially members of the nation's economic team, which has been blamed for the recent economic downturn.

Despite this pressure, there remains doubt whether the President would dare reshuffle Cabinet. Several top officials of Vice President Jusuf Kalla's Golkar Party, the largest in the House of Representatives and the main supporter of the administration, have suggested there was no need for a reshuffle. Some said that if the President decided to reshuffle the Cabinet, Golkar would demand more posts in it, pressuring Susilo to once again pick politicians instead of professionals to head key Cabinet portfolios.

The Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), another key supporter of Susilo, however, claimed on Tuesday that the President would soon reshuffle the Cabinet.

"We (the PKS executive board) have just met President Susilo to convey our dissatisfaction with the government's performance over the past year. And during the meeting, he pledged to reshuffle his Cabinet shortly. He also vowed to accommodate the PKS' ideas on administration and management," secretary-general Annis Matta told The Jakarta Post.

He said the PKS had proposed a new, democratic mechanism to recruit professional people into Susilo's new cabinet.

"Before the recruitment, the President should unveil his agenda and all programs he wants to begin until 2009 and determine the competencies (of cabinet members) needed to execute the agenda and the work programs. Finally, he should hold dialogs with all parties supporting his government, to seek the right people with the requisite competencies," he said.

Annis said that PKS, the only Muslim-based party supporting the administration, would withdraw its support if Susilo failed to improve the administration's performance.

He insisted his party was serious with its threat because it had been facing increasing political pressure from party chapters and supporters who were angry about the fuel price hikes.

"PKS' executive board has been in a difficult position because the party is obliged to defend the fuel price hikes while its members are not involved in the decision-making process," he said.

The decision to raise prices was made by Vice President Jusuf Kalla's economic team.

PKS members of Cabinet are Minister of Agriculture Anton Apriyantono, Minister of Public Housing Muhammad Jusuf Asy'ari and Minister of Youth and Sports Adhyaksa Dault.