Proposed new Cabinet
The likely winner of the country's first direct presidential election, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has busied running mate Jusuf Kalla with preparing a lineup of their Cabinet.
Most Jakarta dailies showed the future vice president in their Sept. 22 issue flanked by supporters -- including Hidayat Nurwahid of the Prosperous Justice Party and Alwi Shihab of the National Awakening Party -- at a press conference. Hidayat had announced that the future Cabinet would consist of professional and credible individuals and would be announced on Oct. 20.
On a separate occasion, Yusril Ihza Mahendra of the Crescent Star Party, another Susilo-Kalla supporter, said the future Cabinet should be expanded by four new coordinating ministers, in particular the Coordinating Minister for Law Enforcement and Human Rights. This proposal is, of course, too subjective given that Yusril was once himself a Minister of Justice and Human Rights under the Megawati administration, and people might perceive something "suspicious" behind it.
What people are keen to see is an active effort to stamp out corruption in the first 100 days of Susilo's presidency, as urged by Amien Rais, Todung Mulya Lubis and Hendardi (Kompas, Sept. 21 and Sept. 22), because this would ensure Susilo's credibility -- he had lived up to one of his campaign promises.
Meanwhile, Susilo's latest statement -- that if he were elected the sixth president of Indonesia, he would not travel abroad immediately, but would visit farmers, fishermen and the conflict areas of Poso, Maluku, Papua and Aceh -- truly deserves our support.
As for the proposed post of coordinating minister, in order to prevent suspicions and strengthen efforts to stamp out corruption, Susilo might consider the alternative of establishing a coordinating minister for development supervision and administrative reform, which existed under the Habibie administration. While the choice is his, a strong and credible individual -- hopefully, as credible as the late Baharuddin Lopa -- would be the right candidate.
This senior Cabinet official's tasks will include coordinating the National Police chief and the Attorney General, who are seen not to have made any significant achievements in enforcing the law over the last five years, particularly in eradicating corruption.
These two institutions have been a stumbling block to efforts by the present Minister of Administrative Reform to eradicate corruption, as they had not followed up on reports of suspected corruption cases.
M. RUSDI, Jakarta