Megawati chairs first Cabinet meeting in her new role
Megawati chairs first Cabinet meeting in her new role
JAKARTA (JP): Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri chaired
her first Cabinet meeting on Thursday since being formally tasked
with handling the day-to-day affairs of the government.
She arrived at Bina Graha Presidential Office at 10 a.m.
sharp, as ministers waited for her on the second floor where the
two-hour meeting was held.
One of her first major technical decisions was to reschedule
the weekly Cabinet meeting to a bi-weekly session and to move the
start of the meetings forward an hour from the usual 10 a.m.
start to 9 a.m.
"So if you want to ask ministers questions you must wake up
earlier," Cabinet Secretary Marsilam Simanjuntak joked with
journalists.
Marsilam said the reason the Vice President decided on having
bi-weekly meetings was that she wanted to give more time for
Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs
Lt. Gen. (ret.) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Coordinating
Minister for the Economy Rizal Ramli to synchronize with other
ministers under their respective authorities.
"The working mechanism of the Cabinet, as decided by the Vice
President, will focus more on meetings, especially the
coordinating meetings led by the two coordinating ministers," he
explained.
"After that they will be followed up by further consultations
with the Vice President and then the President," Marsilam noted.
Thursday's meeting was also the first Cabinet meeting since
the establishment of the new Cabinet last week.
Following a statement before the People's Consultative
Assembly earlier this month President Abdurrahman Wahid issued a
decree authorizing Megawati to run the daily technical affairs of
government.
However the stipulations contained in Decree No. 121 gives
little executive power to the Vice President other than as an
administrator of the Cabinet.
As if further emphasizing the overlying authority of the
President, the decree also instructs Megawati to employ the
services of the State Secretariat's Office and other presidential
aides to assist her.
Only if necessary can she seek the assistance of her own vice
presidential secretariat staff, the decree stipulates.
Absent
Conspicuously absent was Abdurrahman himself who was on a
personal trip to Central Java.
It was the first time since taking office that Megawati
chaired a Cabinet meeting while the President was still in the
country.
Marsilam however cited technical reasons for the President's
absence saying Abdurrahman's one-day trip had been planned for
sometime.
"The trip had been fixed and arranged previously. Therefore it
was impossible to change it," Marsilam said. The President was
accompanied by Minister of National Education Yahya Muhaimin
making him the only Cabinet minister not to attend the meeting in
Jakarta.
From Megawati's own team, only Vice Presidential Secretary
Bambang Kesowo was present at the meeting.
As if conscious of the stipulations of the decree, Megawati's
press officers also seemed hesitant to approach journalists as
they would feel free do at the Vice President's Office on Jl.
Merdeka Selatan, Central Jakarta.
After the Cabinet meeting, Megawati left the office smiling
and waving to journalists but refusing to comment.
Later, with an apparent air of self-confidence, Rizal read out
a statement about the meeting to journalists before entering his
car. He seemed oblivious that Marsilam was usually the one
assigned to explain the results of Cabinet meetings.
Rizal continued talking about strong foreign confidence in the
economy despite an effort by a palace official to remind him that
Marsilam and Yusril were awaiting journalists for a joint
briefing.
"Pak, let us go," Minister of Industry and Trade Lt. Gen.
(ret.) Luhut Panjaitan said, finally persuading Ramli to cease
his explanations.
Apart from the Cabinet members, Indonesian Military Chief
(TNI) Admiral Widodo and Attorney General Marzuki Darusman were
also present. They are technically not part of the Cabinet.
(prb/byg)