Why this delay?

Ideally, President Megawati Soekarnoputri should have announced her Cabinet by Aug.1, one week after she, then Vice President, was installed by the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) as president Abdurrahman Wahid's successor. That Cabinet could then have benefited from the reservoir of goodwill and the high expectations that the market had shown. The question now arises as to why it has taken so long for President Megawati to form a new cabinet, despite the majority of political parties having pledged their full support.

There are a number of reasons that in this context deserve to be looked at carefully. First of all, there is Megawati's rigid adherence to the constitutional stipulation as formulated in Chapter II, Article 8 of the 1945 Constitution, which states (in its official translation) that "Should the president die, cease from executing or be unable to execute his duties during his term in office, his office shall be taken over by the vice president until the expiry of that term."

Based on those words, Megawati's view is that she is only completing President Abdurrahman's term until 2004, which means that she should not tinker too much with the now-defunct Cabinet, except, of course, for the strategic posts that deal with the vital matter of the economy. However, President Megawati should remember that the constitutional process of replacing Abdurrahman and elevating her as his successor was only possible because of the broad coalition of political parties.

The forging of this broad-based political coalition is one positive outcome of the political standoff that, ironically, was caused by Abdurrahman himself. So, if only a small number of vacant posts were available in the now-defunct Cabinet, it would have been harder to satisfy the expectations of the political parties.

The argument for a cabinet that is predominantly new is not, however, in order to satisfy the expectations of the political parties, but a public and market that are hoping for new policies, formulated and implemented by a new team. That is why Megawati's close political associates within the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) have been tactfully persuading their leader to adopt a new stance.

Another reason for the delay can also be traced to the different views within the ranks of PDI Perjuangan concerning the candidacy of Hamzah Haz, chairman of the United Development Party (PPP) for the position of the vice-presidency. Political logic dictated that Megawati needed a partner from among the Islamic parties. Matori Abdul Jalil, of Abdurrahman Wahid's National Awakening Party, would have been the ideal candidate, since he had Megawati's trust. Matori, however, is having difficulties with his own party.

It was only after intense debate within the PDI Perjuangan faction in the MPR that finally Hamzah got the full support of Megawati's party. However, a close senior party executive in PDI Perjuangan is of the opinion that in order to cement a close relationship with the National Mandate Party (PAN), Amien Rais's party, former finance minister Bambang Sudibyo should get his old job back. On the opposing side, Laksamana Sukardi, who has Megawati's trust to draft the economic and financial policies of the new cabinet, is of the opinion that the strategic posts relating to those matters should be entrusted to credible names with professional reputations, respected by the multinational agencies and the market. Apparently it is taking time to reconcile these opposing views.

There are, of course, other reasons that could have caused the delay in the announcement of the cabinet. This concerns especially the working style of the President, who prefers to take in all the different views, which takes time to digest. The President apparently did not realize that by postponing the announcement she was only whetting the appetite of the political parties for more cabinet posts.

More importantly, however, this postponement will drastically limit the time available to the new cabinet to prepare itself for some important upcoming events, such as the meeting of the Paris Club, which is scheduled to take place early in September to discuss the resolution of Indonesia's debts -- and that, in turn, requires the finalization of the pending Letter of Intent with the International Monetary Fund.

Considering that the President's speech before the House of Representatives on Aug.16, on the eve of Indonesia's Independence Day, is also intended to present the outlines of the draft state budget for 2002, it is clear that the announcement of the new cabinet cannot be delayed for too much longer.