Parties press for Cabinet change to boost position

Parties press for Cabinet change to boost position

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With calls mounting for the replacement of some Cabinet
ministers, political parties were fishing for deals ahead of the
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) annual session in August,
analysts said on Monday.

They said this might lead to some parties securing more power
within the government for the 2004 general election.

Political observer Ikrar Nusa Bhakti said the annual session
has served as a forum for parties to renegotiate their bargaining
positions and access to power within the government.

"It's a possible explanation of the increased calls for a
Cabinet change, given also that there is no major rift between
the President and the legislature," Ikrar said on Monday.

When President Megawati Soekarnoputri returns from her two-
week European trip on Friday she will have to confront critics at
home accusing members of her 10-month-old Cabinet of foot-
dragging.

On the list are Minister of Defense Matori Abdul Djalil, for
incompetence; plus State Minister for National Development
Planning, Kwik Kian Gie, for continually disagreeing with other
economic ministers.

Criticism has also fallen on State Secretary/Cabinet Secretary
Bambang Kesowo, whom many have charged of widening his influence
within the government.

Political parties, including Megawati's Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), have openly expressed their
desire for Bambang's removal.

But the pressure might not be strong enough for Megawati to
dismiss Cabinet members after she spent nearly a month selecting
them.

People close to the President said she disliked "backtracking
on her words", and she also wanted to avoid a footloose cabinet
as her predecessor Abdurrahman Wahid once had.

During his 22 months in power, the former president changed
his cabinet four times, or virtually every five months, sometimes
on his own initiative.

Ikrar said Megawati should learn a lesson from Abdurrahman's
frequent cabinet changes, reasoning that political opponents had
levered their influence and weakened his from the inside.

"They (Cabinet changes) should take into account the
coalition of the political parties that propelled Megawati to the
presidency," he explained.

With the annual session close, political parties might be
betting on Megawati reconsidering her stance, according to dean
of the University of Indonesia's faculty of political science
Maswadi Rauf.

"Megawati will have to heed these calls if she wants to ease
pressure on herself at the MPR annual session," Maswadi said.

In August the President will deliver her progress report
before the MPR, the country's top law-making body, in which
legislators occupy more than half of the seats.

"Megawati cannot afford Gus Dur's style of dismissing
legislators," he said, referring to Abdurrahman by his nickname.

Legislators, fed up with Abdurrahman downplaying their role,
had the president removed by calling for a special session of the
MPR following a six-month impeachment campaign.

Abdurrahman's cabinet, however, stood on shaky ground from the
very beginning. His cabinet, as was his presidency, was the
outcome of a political compromise between the country's two
largest political parties, PDI Perjuangan and Golkar, and the
Reform faction, which is a coalition of largely Muslim-based
parties.

His ouster and Megawati's rise to the presidency last July
were driven by these political forces.

Megawati enjoys broader support as parties agreed to maintain
her presidency until at least the 2004 general election.

The consensus followed Abdurrahman's erratic administration,
which took its toll on the nation's economy, with foreign aid
cuts and dwindling investments. Political stability is the
overwhelming priority at present.

Minor ructions against the government have surfaced over the
past few months. In one example, rumors of a new political
grouping in the making was apparently a bluff to persuade PDI
Perjuangan to agree to replace Assembly deputy speaker Matori
with Cholil Bisri.

Both Matori and Cholil hail from the two warring factions
within the National Awakening Party (PKB), both factions vying
for seats in the political establishment.

Rumors of a possible alliance between PKB and the Reform
faction subsided with Cholil's appointment early this month.

Speculation has now surfaced that elements within PDI
Perjuangan are hoping to form a new coalition within the
government through a Cabinet shake-up.

But PKB legislator Ali Masykur Moesa was dismissive that
narrow political interests were driving the latest call for the
replacement of Cabinet ministers.

Slack coordination within the economic team, and the state
secretary becoming a burden to Megawati were strong enough
reasons to reshuffle the Cabinet, he thought.