President Exercises Caution In Finalizing Cabinet Lineup

Denpasar (Antara Bali) - President Joko Widodo, or Jokowi, is adopting a cautious approach in selecting the members for his cabinet lineup after the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) gave yellow and red marks to his prospective ministers.

"I think President Jokowi is being very careful in selecting members of his cabinet lineup, so that he can pick prospective ministers who are clean from corruption. This is a positive step," political observer Nyoman Subanda stated here on Thursday.

He noted that there is a general public impression that Jokowi was slow in announcing his cabinet ministers. On several occasions since his inauguration as president on Monday, Jokowi said he would soon announce his cabinet structure.

"Jokowi said he would soon make public his cabinet ministers' lineup, yet until four days, today since he was inaugurated on Monday, he has not yet announced it," remarked Nyoman Subanda, who is also the dean of the social and political faculty of the National Education University of Denpasar.

As a result of the delay, there are public and political speculations even if the president has the prerogative in deciding his aides who will be carrying out development.

"However, it is a correct step for the president to adopt prudence in selecting ministers, so that his government will be better and free from corruption," he affirmed.

He pointed out that the uncertainty of the announcement would, of course, affect the viewpoint of the people who had given their vote to the Jokowi-Jusuf Kalla pair.

"I hope the president would soon announce the structure of his cabinet ministers in accordance with what he had stated during his inaugural speech at the Parliament building," he stated.

In the meantime, political observer from the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) Pangi Sarwi Chaniago noted on Wednesday that President Jokowi must remain firm and not succumb to external pressures while constituting his cabinet.

"The failure in announcing the cabinet lineup tonight (October 22) was allegedly due to sharp differences (among the parties), a fact that cannot be denied. Therefore, President Jokowi must use his authority correctly," Chaniago remarked on Wednesday.

He also expressed hope that President Jokowi would not be constrained by political parties with vested interests who had supported him during the presidential election.

"Ideally, all affairs related to the cabinet lineup should have been completed as per the president's own prerogative without any intervention from others," he noted.

"Jokowi should live up to the high expectations of the people by announcing the cabinet lineup post haste," the political observer further remarked.

Jokowi was officially inaugurated as the seventh president of Indonesia at the plenary session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) on Monday (October 20).

With the oath-taking ceremony, Jokowi was officially installed as president of Indonesia. His predecessors were Sukarno, Suharto, B. J. Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid, Megawati Sukarnoputri, and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. (WDY)