Graft the reason for potential Cabinet shake-up: Khofifah
Graft the reason for potential Cabinet shake-up: Khofifah
JAKARTA (JP): The possibility of a Cabinet reshuffle remains
uncertain, but if there is one it will not bear political
motives, State Minister of the Empowerment of Women Khofifah
Indar Parawansa said on Sunday.
Khofifah said during Idul Fitri celebrations at her official
residence that a Cabinet shake-up would be needed if there were
ministers involved in corruption, collusion and nepotism or
because of human rights abuses.
"The reshuffle will be necessary if the Attorney General's
Office finds significant evidence of KKN," she said, referring to
the local acronym for corruption, collusion and nepotism.
She added that political reasons or the performance of
ministers would not be the cause of a reshuffle, due to President
Abdurrahman Wahid's commitment to reconciliation.
Fresh speculations over an imminent Cabinet shake-up were made
recently. Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs Gen.
Wiranto, Minister of Manpower Bomer Pasaribu and Minister of
Trade and Industry Yusuf Kalla are among those said to face
dismissal.
Abdurrahman dropped a hint last week when he revealed his plan
to pick Khofifah as a replacement for State Secretary Ali Rahman
if the latter resigned.
Less than one month after forming the cabinet last October,
Abdurrahman said three ministers could be sidelined for graft
cases in the past.
Both Wiranto and Minister of Foreign Affairs Alwi Shihab
recently stressed there would be no reshuffle in the near future
and that rumors of the shake-up were unfounded.
"President Abdurrahman is consistent and there will be no
Cabinet shake-up. But who knows what will happen in the next one
or two years," Alwi told reporters.
He noted that the meeting between Abdurrahman and Vice
President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Jan. 2 concerned measures
need to cope with the protracted clashes in Maluku and was not
about the Cabinet.
There were indeed changes in the Cabinet, when the President
named fellow veteran government critics Marsilam Simanjuntak as
Cabinet Secretary and Bondan Gunawan as secretary of government
supervision on Wednesday.
Khofifah, who is also deputy chairwoman of the National
Awakening Party (PKB), which was founded by Abdurrahman,
contended that from the beginning Abdurrahman had shown an
interest in setting up a clean government.
The President has asked Attorney General Marzuki Darusman to
probe all ministers alleged to be involved in graft. He has also
repeatedly called on ministers with unclean track records to
resign.
Khofifah denied reports that Abdurrahman had asked her to
replace Ali Rahman during a meeting between the President and PKB
executives.
"The meeting consisted of matters concerning the population
board. There was no talk of a Cabinet reshuffle," Khofifah said.
She said the gathering was an internal one and should have not
been publicized.
"The President did not know about the presence of reporters at
the gathering. I have asked Pak Muhaimin Iskandar (Deputy House
of Representatives Speaker from PKB), if he noticed the presence
of journalists," she said. (04)