New Cabinet to start work on Oct. 20
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Bogor
President-in-waiting Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono vows not to waste time in the first days of his administration, saying his Cabinet will start working as soon as he takes office on Oct. 20.
Susilo said on Sunday he would step up efforts to select his Cabinet members shortly after the General Elections Commission (KPU) announced the official result of the presidential election on Oct. 5.
"I expect all the ministers to immediately serve the people who have been demanding recovery programs in all fields," Susilo said at his residence in Cikeas, near the West Java town of Bogor.
All presidents in the previous periods spent weeks to form their Cabinets.
It took the incumbent president, Megawati Soekarnoputri, 20 days to select her Cabinet members after she was sworn in to replace president Abdurrahman Wahid on July 23, 2001. Megawati at that time had to accommodate the political parties which contributed to her ascension.
With nearly 110 million of the estimated 125 million votes counted as of Sunday, Susilo took a commanding lead with 61 percent of the vote over Megawati's 39 percent.
The KPU expects to start the manual vote counting on Oct. 1. The official outcome of the election will be based on the manual count.
"Within the coming days, my priority is to consolidate and reconcile with many sides, as well as to monitor the vote counting and prepare all steps necessary to assist me carry out my duties if I am elected to serve the nation.
Presidential candidates who contested the Sept. 20 runoff are given the opportunity to dispute the election outcome.
The new members of the People Consultative's Assembly who will take office on Oct. 1 will install the elected president on Oct. 20.
Rumor has it that Susilo and Jusuf Kalla have reportedly already discussed the composition of their Cabinet with certain parties that supported the pairing in the runoff. The Democratic Party which Susilo cofounded, the Indonesian Justice and Unity Party (PKPI) and the Crescent Star Party (PBB) would reportedly get two ministerial posts each, while the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) one.
Kalla had earlier said that professionals would fill 60 percent of Cabinet posts, with the rest going to political parties.
Susilo flatly denied the rumors and said he would announce his Cabinet lineup on Oct. 5.
"Information being circulated through text messages say that I have already called the ministerial candidates to come to my house. I must underline that the reports are baseless," Susilo said.
Meanwhile, PKS chairman Hidayat Nur Wahid called on the next government to prevent the planned national security council from turning into something akin to Malaysia's Internal Security Act (ISA).
Whoever is guilty must be punished but those proven to be innocent should not be stigmatized, he said.
"Innocent Muslims should not be stigmatized simply because a small number of Muslims have committed crimes," Hidayat said, in the context of the ongoing war on terror.