Gus Dur fires two ministers

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid axed Minister of Industry and Trade Yusuf Kalla and State Minister of Investment and State Enterprises Development Laksamana Sukardi on Monday, appointing Lt. Gen. Luhut Panjaitan and Rozy Munir as their respective replacements.

Luhut, the Indonesian ambassador to Singapore, and Rozy, the secretary-general in Laksamana's office, will be sworn in on Wednesday.

They are expected to immediately take up their duties by attending a Cabinet meeting later in the afternoon.

News of the reshuffle emerged after the two outgoing ministers were summoned to the palace in the evening.

Cabinet Secretary Marsilam Simanjuntak, after accompanying the President in the meeting, said Abdurrahman found himself with two alternatives in trying to rejuvenate his economic team.

"The President's reason was to harmonize the economic team. There were two alternatives and the President opted to replace Laksamana Sukardi and Yusuf Kalla," Marsilam said without revealing the second option.

The Cabinet's economic team is generally viewed as comprising four core individuals, rounded out by Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industry Kwik Kian Gie and Minister of Finance Bambang Sudibyo.

"It's positive that they will not (be replaced)," Marsilam replied when asked about the fate of Kwik and Bambang.

The President spoke of disunity in his economic team in a televised debate at the Jakarta Convention Center on Monday night.

He said Laksamana and Kalla were replaced because they could not work together with the other two economic ministers: "I asked them to be released from their duties. I used my prerogative as president."

Politics

The capital has been abuzz in recent weeks with rumors of Cabinet changes.

Monday evening's 20-minute meeting came after Abdurrahman met in the morning with International Monetary Fund (IMF) acting managing director Stanley Fischer.

Laksamana, a former leading official of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), rushed to his car and refused to talk to journalists after the meeting.

Kalla, a top Golkar Party cadre, looked more relaxed and said he wanted to return to his hometown of Makassar, South Sulawesi.

"I was asked to choose between becoming a DPA (Supreme Advisory Council) member or an ambassador," Yusuf replied when asked about the President's offer to him and Laksamana.

"I don't know whether the right term is that we resigned, or we were asked to resign. But when we were told that the Cabinet was not solid, it was better for us to quit."

Kalla was the target of almost every reshuffle speculation in the past six months, while Laksamana's name was increasingly talked of following his failure to retain a seat in the new PDI Perjuangan executive lineup.

Laksamana and Kalla are the third and fourth Cabinet members to be replaced in the six-month-old government, not including Gen. (ret) Wiranto who is currently suspended from duty.

"So far there are no more plans (to replace Cabinet members)," Marsilam said.

The political fallout of the latest reshuffle remains to be seen.

The replacement of the then coordinating minister for people's welfare and poverty eradication, Hamzah Haz, in November, triggered a harsh political backlash because he was considered to represent the "axis force" political coalition.

It is unclear whether the two outgoing ministers have the same political clout to spark similar ire from PDI Perjuangan and Golkar.

Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung on Monday night said a reaction from the party was pending an official explanation from the President himself.

"We will ask the President to clarify it in the consultative meeting between the House of Representatives and the government on April 27," Akbar, who is also the House speaker, told The Jakarta Post at his residence.

Akbar said he spoke to Kalla who told him that the replacement was made for the sake of the Cabinet's teamwork.

Many are also awaiting an explanation of the choice of Luhut and Rozy.

Luhut, 53, graduated from the Indonesian Military Academy in 1970. He spent much of his military career in the Army's Special Force (Kopassus) and also graduated from the National War College in the United States.

Abdurrahman has praised the three-star general for maintaining an excellent relationship with Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong's government and in promoting Indonesia to Singapore's business community.

He will become the sixth minister with a military background in the Cabinet. It is likely that Luhut will have to resign from active duty, which was required of other military officers when assuming ministerial positions.

Luhut may also gain special insight into economic affairs from noted economist Sjahrir, who is married to his sister Kartini.

Rozy, 57, is a senior member of the country's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama and the National Awakening Party, which Abdurrahman founded. He is a graduate of the University of Indonesia's School of Economics, where he continues to lecture. (prb/jun)