Kadin wants business-minded ministers

Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta

The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) called on Monday for presidential candidates to select as their key economic ministers those who understood business and the financial markets, and urged them to announce their ministerial lineups in advance of the runoff ballot on Sept. 20.

Kadin said this was imperative in order to allow the public, particularly businesspeople, to make a well-informed judgment when voting.

"Otherwise, it will be like buying a cat in a sack," Kadin's chairman Mohammad S. Hidayat said.

Hidayat said that the business community wanted to see the economic portfolios in the future Cabinet being filled by figures who had experience of business and who understood the problems facing the country.

"We don't want economic ministers who are only good at (economic) theory. This is not good for the business community. We want experienced people," said Hidayat after a meeting with presidential candidate Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the incumbent president, Megawati Soekarnoputri.

Susilo and Megawati were invited by Kadin to present their economic manifestos as they will contest the run-off in September, unless the Constitutional Court overturns the decisions of the General Election Committee (KPU) to name them as the winner and runner-up respectively in the first round of the presidential election in July. Eliminated presidential candidate Wiranto claims that he, in fact, came second, and has filed a petition with the Constitutional Court to review the KPU decision.

Hidayat explained that economic ministers who were only "good at economic theory" should be excluded from the next Cabinet as they would take too long to become acquainted with the huge problems facing the business community.

"We want ministers who can take quick and effective action to restore the nation's real sector to health. We don't need newcomers who still need time to learn about the problems being faced by business," he said.

The economic team in the current Cabinet is dominated by academics and civil servants. Ministers who come from the private sector are State Minister of State Enterprises Laksamana Sukardi, who is a former banker, and Minister of Industry and Trade Rini MS Soewandi, who is the former president of automotive giant PT Astra International. The team has been lauded for improving the country's macro-economic indicators, but has often been criticized for failing to improve the state of the real sector.

Kadin's statement came amid rumors that both Susilo and Megawati were likely to choose academics for their economic teams, if elected.

Susilo is said to be eyeing economists Faisal Basri, Mari Pangestu, Sri Mulyani, and Budi Setiadharma, the current president director of Astra, to serve as his economic ministers.

Meanwhile, rumors say Megawati will maintain most of her economic team, with a number of exceptions, including Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti.