New Cabinet

New Cabinet

News have spread that the new Cabinet will have 36 ministerial
positions. Compared to the last Cabinet, this is an increase of
10 positions.

If this is true, this is will be the first mistake of
President Megawati and I believe it is because her considerations
weigh more on the stability of her presidency than efforts to end
the crisis.

If there are more ministerial positions but with no revision
of the government's budget, the government will be forced to
reduce expenditure somewhere and hopefully it will not be the
allocation for the poor. On the other hand, if the government's
budget is increased, the budget deficit will become larger.

To me, a "fat" Cabinet contradicts the principal of regional
autonomy where local governments are given more authority to run
their administrations. If the new government insists on forming
a large Cabinet, it clearly indicates that it doesn't have a
sense of crisis. As a result, the public will become apathetic
about the new national leadership and the government trapped in
horse trading.

The other matter of concern is the plan to reestablish the
information and social ministries. As is still fresh in people's
mind, the information ministry was the most effective government
tool in screening information and fooling simple-minded people in
rural areas. With the advanced and sophisticated communications
equipment in Indonesia today, it is naive if the government
thinks it can still manipulate and monopolizing information.

The social ministry, which was supposed to manage the welfare
of the poor, ended up serving the welfare of the employees in the
ministry. I am very sure that without the social ministry, the
risks of funds for the poor being siphoned off will be reduced.

Finally, as a citizen I would like to say to Ibu Megawati that
when making crucial decisions, she should listen to her heart of
hearts. If her heart is full of honesty and integrity, "she will
be on the right track."

M SULHAN ASKANDAR

Jakarta