Mega keeps a tight lid on the Cabinet lineup

Mega keeps a tight lid on the Cabinet lineup

JAKARTA (JP): There was much speculation but few actual clues
as to the lineup of the new Cabinet on Wednesday, a day before it
is due to be announced, with even People's Consultative Assembly
speaker Amien Rais failing to get peak at the draft of the new
government.

By Wednesday afternoon, President Megawati Soekarnoputri's
aides and other senior politicians claimed they were still very
much in the dark about the Cabinet, which is due to be formally
announced at 11 a.m. on Thursday.

Megawati in picking the members of the Cabinet has shrewdly
pulled down an iron curtain, which few are allowed even a glimpse
behind.

Amien admitted that during separate afternoon meetings he held
with both the President and Vice President Hamzah Haz, he had
attempted to try and get a sneak preview.

"I thought I could get some leads, but I got nothing," Amien
remarked after meeting with Hamzah.

"This is interesting because with only a few hours before the
announcement, we still don't know who is going to be in the
Cabinet," Amien, who is also the National Mandate Party (PAN)
chairman, remarked.

Amien, who's 20-minute meeting with the Vice President was
initially unscheduled, maintained that the primary purpose of his
meeting was to seek assurances that there would be no more delays
in the announcement of the Cabinet.

"Pak Hamzah said that the cabinet draft was ready, but he did
not elaborate on the structure or the names of the ministers," he
remarked.

Amien further affirmed his unconditional support for whatever
selection was made by the newly elected President, even if two of
the proposed candidates from his party, rumored to be Bambang
Sudibyo and Hatta Radjassa, were overlooked.

Amien, however, still seemed to be hopeful of getting an early
preview of the Cabinet, saying that he and Hamzah were due to
meet Megawati later on Wednesday evening.

After her appointment as President on July 23, Megawati said
the Cabinet would be formed "in a few days". However, the
drafting process has dragged on.

Megawati has made it quite clear throughout the process that
while she is open to suggestions, the Cabinet will be of her own
personal crafting with even officials from her Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) being excluded from
backroom consultation on its membership.

Candidates

Factual information remains limited, but what seems almost
certain is that three coordinating ministers will be directing
the Cabinet.

Observers have sought other hints to get an insight into the
possible outcome, such as a meeting Hamzah had on Wednesday with
Deputy Attorney General Soeparman. No official explanation was
given about the meeting.

Megawati herself spent most of the day receiving guests at Jl.
Teuku Umar where she has resided for the past year.

Among the guests were PDI Perjuangan members Laksamana Sukardi
and Kwik Kian Gie along with dismissed National Awakening Party
chairman Matori Abdul Djalil.

Some have said that Matori may be rewarded for his perceived
siding with Megawati with a possible defense post, while
Laksamana and Kwik are both being hotly tipped as potential
candidates for the economics portfolio.

Separately, senior Golkar Party executive Syamsul Muarif
maintained that he was did not know how many Golkar members would
get ministerial seats.

He added that probably only party chairman Akbar Tandjung
could answer that question.

"I'm sure that only the party leaders have been informed of
the ministers' names," Syamsul, who is among those rumored to be
a ministerial candidate, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

"Until now I don't know. Nobody has asked me to become a
minister," Syamsul said adding that he and his colleagues often
joked about the prospect of receiving the famous "presidential
telephone call".

But he underlined that the most important aspect was that all
political players stuck together in supporting the new government
so that the ministers could work to get the country on its feet
again.

Megawati's personal secretary Bambang Kesowo said on Wednesday
that the Cabinet would be sworn in on Friday at 10 a.m.

Speaking to reporters he further denied speculation that he
was influencing Megawati in the decision-making process.

"That's outrageous speculation," he remarked.

Separately, officials from the PDI Perjuangan reiterated that
Megawati had shut the door on any possibility of people
influencing her through backdoor channels.

"She has repeatedly said that all members should trust her in
selecting her ministers. Even the major party leaders are being
excluded from any discussion of the Cabinet," the official, who
declined to be named, told the Post.

The official also said Megawati had stressed to the major
political parties that she did not owe them anything. She
maintained that her elevation to the presidency was a rightful
and natural process carried out in accordance with the
Constitution.(dja)