CABINET SHAKE-UP SEEN IMMINENT

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, March 8 (ANTARA) - Observers called on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to reshuffle his cabinet ministers immediately amid a discourse on the  stance of two government coalition members,  the Golkar Party and Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).          Golkar and PKS supported a recent tax mafia inquiry motion which was rejected by the alliance under the leadership of the ruling Democrat Party (PD).          President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said last week that political parties in the government coalition that had not met their commitments could no longer remain in the alliance, a clear reference to the Golkar and PKS parties which were viewed to have taken steps violating their commitments.          Observers are of the opinion that if the president  intends to revamp his cabinet,  he had better carry it out immediately in order not to miss the momentum. After all, the president now only has 3.5 years left to carry out his mandate.          "If he is willing to reshuffle his cabinet, now is the time because it only has 3.5 years left. It will be too late if he waits for one or two more years," political observer Katjung Marijan of the Airlangga University (Unair) said on Monday.          He said  if the president did not carry out a cabinet revamp he would continue to face the same problem which so far had been created by his coalition partners. Moreover, the idea of a cabinet reshuffle existed for a long time and if it continued to be raised it would disturb the government in  carrying out its development programs optimally.          Secretary General of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) Tjahjo Kumolo said President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had better reshuffle his cabinet ministers soon.          "PDIP only reminds (the president of the cabinet revamp) because if it is delayed it will miss the momentum," he said at the parliament building on Monday.          Katjung Marijan concurred with Tjahjo's opinion saying that  a cabinet shake-up followed  by the coalition's restructuring is needed to ensure the government stability so that it would work more effectively.          According to Katjung, a cabinet reshuffle should be made a momentum to renew its commitment and improve coordination among political parties supporting the alliance, two things which so far were proven to be weak.          "Ideally, a coalition must be in one home, under one roof and have one door. What happens so far is that each of the coalition members has its own home and door so that a common policy is not created," Katjung said.           He said it should be acknowledged that Yudhoyono's coalition now was still confined to power-sharing, not a coalition built to achieve a common goal. Fragmentation within the coalition, where each political party has its own interest, could not be avoided, much more coordination was weak. "Commitment and coordination must be improved which could be done by excluding political parties which so far did not fulfill their commitments," he said.          Political observer Yunarto Wijaya of Charta Politika  said now is the correct momentum for  Yudhoyono to reduce the number of parties in the government coalition so that his administration would run effectively.         "The large size of the coalition has proven  to be ineffective and put shackles on the government so that the administration over the past one and a half years was not effective as it was shackled by the interest of political parties," Yunarto said.          Yunarto said  he hoped Yudhoyono would use the momentum to down size the cabinet posture so that it would become more professional by including elements which were free from interests that shackle the cabinet.          He said the change in the composition of the coalition by excluding those considered to have violated their commitment and include others in the cabinet would not have a significant impact on  the government's performance.           "Letting one party go but asking another one to come in to replace it to maintain the coalition strength is only a mirage," he said.          He said that by asking other political parties like the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) and Gerindra (the Greater Indonesia Movement Party ) to replace the Golkar Party and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) the president would face difficulties in giving incentives to a loyal party or in taking ministers from the professional circle.          "The president has the logic that if A is excluded from the coalition, B must be included in the alliance to maintain strength. But this will automatically reduce the room for him to provide reward for loyal parties or to take ministers from professionals to support his government," he said.          PDIP and Gerindra are so far not included in the government coalition. According to Yudhoyono, the political parties who have joined the coalition are the Golkar Party, PKS, National Mandate Party (PAN), United Development Party (PPP), National Awakening Party (PKB) and the (ruling) Democrat Party (PD). These parties have signed 11-point agreements which would serve as rules of the game in the coalition.          Owing to the fact that certain coalition members are viewed to have violated their commitments, while calls and discourse on possible reshuffle, the president is now about to revamp his cabinet.          However, analyst believed that a reshuffle should not be based on a political reason but on the performance of a minister.          "A reshuffle should be carried out if the president considers the performance of his ministers to be bad. This is very important. If the cabinet is reshuffled for political reasons, I think it is not appropriate," Maswadi Rauf of the University of Indonsia (UI) said.          He said  if the cabinet was revamped because of  political reasons, it would affect the government's performance. It would likely disturb and reduce the performance of ministers.          A presidential aide said a cabinet reshuffle would be based on performance consideration.  "It is not a discourse. It is real and is going to be discussed soon. So if a reshuffle really happens  later, the basis for it will be an evaluation of ministers'  performance," Heru Lelono, the president's special aide for information, said.      (T.A014/A/HAJM/00:25/a014) 08-03-2011 00:53