CABINET SHAKE-UP, NOW OR NEVER

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Sept 21 (ANTARA) - The cabinet reshuffle discourse may have disturbed ministers but the president had better realize that it is  now or never at all so that his ministers can concentrate on their jobs in the remaining three years, observers say.          "If the president really intends to replace low-performing or problematic ministers, he had better do it immediately because , if not, it will have political implications that will affect his government's  performance," Arizka Warganegara, political analyst of Lampung University (Unila) said in response to the cabinet reshuffle discourse.         Arizka's view was shared by his political scientist colleague Edi Indrizal of Andalas University in West Sumatra. Edi said that if the president did not reshuffle the cabinet, it would further worsen his image which had already dropped by an unprecedented figure of late.         "Moreover, the president now has objective reasons to reshuffle his cabinet because there are several ministers whose performance is considered not optimal," Edi said.          Besides, if the president reshuffles his cabinet, the new ministers will have enough time to carry out their visions and missions in the administration's remaining three years.          However, the two political observers said that in replacing some of his ministers President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono should not base his decision on political considerations.          "It would be useless to reshuffle the cabinet if it is based on political considerations, much less  if it is based on like and dislike. The new ministers' performance would not be maximal because the right man was not put in the right place," said Arizka.          In the meantime, Edi said that if political considerations were taken into account in replacing the ministers, it would be hard to expect that an improvement in the ministers' performance could be made in the remaining three years.          He said that political considerations for a cabinet reshuffle could be a boomerang for the president because so far the ministers who got more public spotlights were those who came from political parties.          Therefore, now is the time for the president to prove to the public that he was not 'held hostage' by political parties and could take a firm step to place professional people for carrying out his vision and missions, Edi said.          He said it was now time for Yudhoyono to carry out reshuffle because now was the last momentum for him to decide the journey of his leadership. Two years of his second presidential term was enough for him to judge which ministers had to be replaced.           According to Arizka Warganegara, the president in replacing his ministers should use a clear and measurable criteria. He must have the courage to ignore political intervention from political parties in his coalition and the opposition party.          Besides, the president should place professionals in their respective fields and provide no rooms for personal egoism in the cabinet, thus objectivity would become a means of measuring the composition of the cabinet.         In this case, the Head of State should empower the Presidential Work Unit for Development Supervision and Control (UKP4) as an institution which is able to provide an objective assessment of the government's performance.          Political observer of the Malang-based University of Muhammadiyah (UMM) Dr Mas'ud Said meanwhile suggested that Yudhoyono should pay attention to three aspects in reshuffling his cabinet.          He said that the three aspects covered ministers who were related to legal problems, who had bad performance and who had bad health conditions. A minister with legal problem was not good in public opinions while those with bad health conditions would affect work performance.          The new ministers must be more capable than the outgoing ministers they had replaced as otherwise it would invite new public criticisms. "It would not pose any problem if the successor ministers have more capability," Mas'ud said.          Rizka Negara added that if order to see incapable ministers their performance should be learned from the assessment and report of the UKP4.  He said that at least four ministers should be replaced due to inability to handle the problems of Indonesian migrant workers overseas, judicial mafia cases, unprofessional handling of the upcoming SEA Games and the failure in the mediation of free trade such as the Chinese Asian Free Trade Area (CAFTA).          Besides, the minister who has bad health conditions should also be replaced, Rizka said.          In the meantime, Secretary General of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) Muhammad Anis Matta expressed his suspicion that the reshuffle discourse had been raised by a certain party for the interest of strengthening logistics  in the face of the 2014 general elections.          "I am afraid that the president has gathered input from those who wanted the cabinet to be reshuffled with the ultimate end of strengthening their logistics in the face of the general elections," Anis Matta said.          However, he believed that the discourse on the cabinet reshuffle was only a rumor. "If it is true that the president is willing to reshuffle his cabinet, he must have contacted the leaders of political parties," he said.          The PKS secretary general said that the president had not yet contacted any political parties who were members of his government coalition. Therefore, PKS was of the view that there was no certainty yet about the cabinet shake-up discourse.          According to a presidential aide, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is currently formulating a cabinet reshuffle plan with Vice President Boediono.          Presidential special aide for political communication Daniel Sparingga said on Tuesday the president had not yet involved political parties in the process at this stage but would do so later on.          "Until now, the President has not yet involved anyone except the vice president but in time , he will also involve political parties and political parties also understand that the success of the government will  also be their success," he said.           He said the President and the vice president had deliberately isolated themselves from the coalition with regard to producing the best decision.           "So, there is a new spirit. We change from what in the past used to be called "being held hostage" to the brotherhood spirit," he said.***3*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/21:10/A/S012)21-09-2011 21:31:2