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)