MINISTERS INDIFFERENT OVER RESHUFFLE DISCOURSE

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Sept 17 (ANTARA) - Some ministers did not react too much over the discourse that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was likely to reshuffle his cabinet ministers this year.          The discourse on the possible cabinet shake-up was raised recently by Achmad Mubarok, member of  the ruling Democrat Party (PD)'s board of patrons.          Mubarok raised the issue after  the Presidential Working Unit for Development Control and Supervision (UKP4) made the assessment that some ministers lacked maximal performance.          Yet, a number of ministers in the Indonesia United Cabinet did not take it seriously.  "There is no problem if some people voice inappropriate opinions in looking at a certain issue," Darwin Zahedy Saleh, energy and mineral resources (ESDM) minister, said after a cabinet session on Thursday.          Some people have taken up the UKP4 assessment results to voice their opinions that some ministers are likely to be replaced by the president. Darwin has heard such an opinion. He admitted that his ministry had a red score on certain fields by the UKP4. "The energy and mineral resources ministry got a red report on certain fields," he said.          However, the ESDM has got the red scores not merely because of its weaknesses but also of external factors such as the delay in the disbursement of budget that hampered the implementation of its programs.         "So, we would like to see the red reports more as a blessing in disguise," Minister Darwin said.          Law and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar did not either give much response to the discourse on the cabinet shake-up. "Just let people have their own opinions ," Patrialis said.          He expressed regret about the attitude of certain people who considered the UKP4 assessment results as a signal that the president would be willing to replace his ministers. After all, the delay in a number of ministers' programs was not merely due to the mistakes of the ministries concerned.          "Many have dreams to become a minister so that it seems as if they were  using the red scores of the current ministers as a propaganda," Patrialis said.          On separate occasions, Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi and Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto said they had not yet received the final results of the UKP4 assessment, and that they did not respond to the reshuffle discourse.          Cooperatives and Small Enterprises Minster Syarifuddin Hasan said he always followed the assessment of the presidential working unit but he refused to disclose the results of the UKP4 assessment of his ministry.          "It should not come from me, but the UKP4," he said.          In the meantime, Chief Patron of the United Development Party (PPP) Lukman Saefuddin said the reshuffle issue was raised by Achmad Mubarok to exert pressures so that Yudhoyono would reshuffle  his cabinet. "It was a kind of a fait accompli" he said.          He said that it was the president's prerogative right to replace or not to replace his ministers. Lukman said that the discourse only posed a difficulty to the president in deciding a policy regarding his ministers.          The PPP chief patron said that keeping on raising the reshuffle discourse created the impression that the president was being pushed to go ahead with replacing his ministers. Therefore, he asked Democrat Party cadres to appreciate the president's steps in deciding his own policies regarding whether or not he was going to reshuffle his cabinet.          He said that PPP felt it had nothing to loose with the cabinet shake-up discourse as long as it was raised by people other than the president himself.          Therefore, Lukman hoped that the president would soon respond to the discourse affirming whether or not he would replace his ministers.          If the president affirmed he would not reshuffle his cabinet, Lukman hoped that the Democrat Party cadres would stop raising the issue because it would only disturb political communications.  "If the president says no, the discourse should be stopped soon," he said.          Recently, Achmad Mubarok said that President Yudhoyono was likely to reshuffle his cabinet this year. "We have the experience in the past when the president replaced his ministers. The president will replace his ministers after one year of his government. It will be one year next October," said Mubarok.          He said that the UKP4 assessment report could serve as a basis for Yudhoyono to relace his ministers who were considered lacking performance. "The UKP4 has made a report where a number of ministers have got red scores. This is a reference for Yudhoyono to carry out a cabinet shake-up," he said.          Mubarok said he did know the ministers who would be replaced, neither did he know when the replacement would take place but he predicted that five ministers would likely be replaced. "Only the president who knows who and when," he said.          However, Democrat Party Chairman Anas Urbaningrum denied if his party was encouraging the president to carry out a cabinet shake-up.          "I have never heard about the 'reshuffle' issue (from the president). The Democrat Party will not  involve itself in the issue because the reshuffle issue is not only the prerogative right of the president but also we do not want to disturb the concentration of ministers in carrying out their tasks," Anas said.           He said that the Democrat Party had the commitment to reinforcing the country's presidential system by fully leaving the ministers affairs to the president. "There is no need to urge the president to reshuffle his cabinet. On the other hand the president should neither be hampered if he would carry out refreshment of his cabinet," said Anas.          In the meantime, Democrat Party Deputy Chief Patron Marzuki Alie who is also the House Speaker,  asked that people should not heed the reshuffle discourse.  "There is no need to hear it. The reshuffle discourse came out of  Mubarok's personal statement," said Marzuki.          He stressed that as deputy chief patron of the party, he had never heard about the reshuffle. "I never heard about it," Marzuki who is also former secretary general of the Democrat Party said.          He said that Mubarok could have made the statement because of his personal dislike of certain ministers.  "It can be that he had made the statement about the reshuffle because he disliked certain ministers.  I am close to all ministers myself," he said.          Democrat Party associate chairman Radityo Gambiro said the cabinet reshuffle issue was raised by Mubarok based on his personal opinion. "That is his own opinions and analysis. We should respect his opinions," said Gambiro. ***1*** (T.A014/a/H-NG/a014) 17-09-2010 09:02: