Fadli Zon Responds to Shadow Cabinet: Critique Welcome, Provided It Has Strong Basis

Culture Minister Fadli Zon considers the existence of a shadow cabinet to be a common occurrence in a democratic system.

According to Fadli, the formation of a shadow cabinet is generally carried out by groups or parties outside the government.

“In my view, usually when people refer to a shadow cabinet, it is the opposition party,” Fadli said in Jakarta on Wednesday, 5 August 2026.

He explained that the concept of a shadow cabinet is better known in countries that adopt a parliamentary system, such as the United Kingdom.

In such a system, the opposition party forms a shadow cabinet to monitor the running of the government while offering alternative policies to the public.

“In the UK, for example, if the Labour Party is in power, then the Conservative Party becomes the shadow government. Conversely, if the Conservative Party is in power, then the Labour Party becomes the shadow government,” he said.

Fadli then touched on the situation in Indonesia. According to him, the shadow cabinet that has emerged in the country likely comes from observers.

“Well, I don’t know about this one; perhaps it is observers, shadow observers,” he said.

Nevertheless, Fadli views the presence of a shadow cabinet as part of the dynamics of democratic life.

He admitted that he has no issue with the emergence of criticism against the government. In fact, before becoming a minister, he was known as a figure who frequently voiced criticism of government policies.

“But it is good for our democracy to have criticism. I used to be a critic myself, so it is nothing out of the ordinary,” Fadli said.

According to Fadli, the most important thing is not the existence of a shadow cabinet, but the quality of the criticism delivered. He hopes that every criticism is sharp, well-argued and has a strong basis.

“The most important thing is that the criticism is sharp, but also well-argued and grounded,” he said.