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)