Government denies Cabinet reshuffle

Government denies Cabinet reshuffle

JAKARTA (JP): The present Cabinet remains intact and there is
no immediate plan for a shake-up, acting State Secretary Bondan
Gunawan said on Saturday.

Bondan said after a meeting with President Abdurrahman Wahid
that the Cabinet's teamwork was solid enough to function well as
the President's assistants.

"The President feels that the ministers are helpful. He just
wants them to be more serious," Bondan said.

His statement came hours before Abdurrahman departed for South
Africa, marking the start of a nine-day overseas trip.

Bondan acknowledged that the President had reprimanded his
ministers, especially the economic ministers, for their lack of
coordination in implementing reform programs Indonesia had
committed to under a loan agreement with the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), but said this did not mean that President
Abdurrahman was dissatisfied with the ministers' performance.

In a Cabinet meeting on Thursday last week, the President
banned ministers from overseas trips until they were able to
resolve the pressing problem with the IMF.

Following his reprimand, pressure mounted on Abdurrahman to
replace his economic ministers.

Mochtar Pabottingi and Dewi Fortuna Anwar, both from the
National Institute of Sciences (LIPI), were the latest to support
a Cabinet shake-up. The two proposed changes to Abdurrahman's
six-month-old Cabinet for its failure to improve political and
economic conditions and to uphold the rule of law.

But House of Representatives Speaker Akbar Tandjung opposed
any plan to reshuffle the Cabinet. Akbar said on Saturday that it
was unnecessary for the President to make any changes to the
Cabinet as it would raise new problems.

"The most important things to be done by the President right
now are to strengthen coordination among his aides, create a
conducive atmosphere at home, calm the political situation and
enforce the law," he said.

Rumors of a Cabinet reshuffle have been rife over the past few
days. On Wednesday, a former House of Representatives legislator,
Ichsanuddin Noorsy, who went to Bina Graha presidential office,
and chairman of the National Business Development Council Sofjan
Wanandi hinted that a reshuffle was underway.

Cabinet Secretary Marsilam Simanjuntak had earlier brushed
aside the rumors.

After South Africa, Abdurrahman's five-nation tour will also
take him to Cuba, Mexico and Hong Kong, with a brief stopover in
Japan.

Among the state officials who saw him off were Vice President
Megawati Soekarnoputri and Indonesian Military Commander Adm.
Widodo A.S.

The Garuda aircraft carrying Abdurrahman and his 80-member
entourage took off from Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in East
Jakarta in the afternoon.

Abdurrahman is scheduled to meet South African President Thabo
Mbeki in the South African administrative capital of Pretoria on
Sunday to talk about the feasibility of setting up a South
African-style truth and reconciliation commission in Indonesia.

A planned meeting with South African leader Nelson Mandela is
unlikely because the former president is overseas.

The President will leave South Africa on April 11 for Cancun,
Mexico, and will travel to Havana to attend the Group of 77
developing nations summit and meet Cuban President Fidel Castro.

Before returning to Indonesia, Abdurrahman is scheduled to
make a stopover in Tokyo to call on ailing former Japanese prime
minister Keizo Obuchi, and his successor Yoshiro Mori.
(jun/rms/byg)