New Cabinet to start work on Oct. 20

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.