Keith B. Richburg, Jakarta – President Abdurrahman Wahid of Indonesia on Tuesday unveiled a new-look cabinet for the country's democratic era, naming an entirely fresh economics team unsullied by corruption scandals and taking steps to bring the powerful armed forces under greater civilian control. With the new lineup, Mr. Wahid appeared to signal a dramatic break from the country's past, discredited regime, although a few old faces remain. Moreover, the cabinet seemed crafted to ensure that virtually all political parties are included, as well as giving more representation to outlying regions and ethnic minority groups that felt disenfranchised from previous governments.
The big loser Tuesday appeared to be the former armed forces commander and defense minister, General Wiranto, who was made the coordinating minister for political affairs and security – a position that leaves him in the cabinet, but with no troops under his control.
He had previously been a leading contender to become vice president, or even president, if the country's legislative assembly had deadlocked over the other candidates. He has now been effectively sidelined.
Two top advisers to Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri, familiar to international business and financial officials, were given key economics positions – Laksamana Sukardi, as minister for capital investment, and Kwik Kian Gie, as coordinating minister in charge of overall economic policy.
Mr. Kwik is ethnic Chinese, and his appointment should help to reassure Indonesia's ethnic Chinese business community, as well as Chinese in the region who have been cautious about investing in Indonesia since anti-Chinese rioting in May 1998.
The new finance minister is a little-known US-trained academic, Bambang Sudibyo. He is close to Amien Rais, who chaired the assembly that elected Mr. Wahid president.
In recent days, diplomats meeting with Mr. Wahid had stressed the importance of his starting the new term with "a clean slate," in the words of one. Fresh faces were seen as crucial for the economics team, as international lenders held up payments on a bailout package of more than $40 billion after a banking scandal began to ensnare top finance officials from the last government.
General Wiranto previously held two jobs. He was replaced as armed forces commander by his deputy, Admiral Widodo Adisutjipto, and as defense chief by Juwono Sudarsono, the respected former education minister.
Both of those new appointments break from tradition. Admiral Widodo is the first naval officer ever to be named armed forces commander, a position that traditionally has gone to the army – and the navy has never been used in suppressing dissent. Mr. Juwono is Indonesia's first civilian defense minister since the 1950s, suggesting that Mr. Wahid wants to bring the military under more civilian control.
Mr. Juwono, who previously headed the National Defense Institute, is considered an expert on military affairs.
Two other military men who could have been in line to become armed forces commander were moved into cabinet jobs, one in charge of transport, the other in charge of mines and energy.
"Don't think the military is crazy," Mr. Wahid said at one point in English, answering a question from a reporter during the announcement of his cabinet line-up. "They are responsible. They know the whole society is changing."
Salim Said, a political scientist who teaches at the military staff college, said the appointments showed "Abdurrahman Wahid is showing his teeth as someone to be taken seriously." He said, "As we are constructing a national coalition government, the military is still an important political player. How to tame them? That is the question. It's not as easy as turning around the palm of your hand. It takes time."
The new cabinet appears an unlikely hybrid of various factions and interest groups. The foreign minister's position went to a relative unknown, Alwi Shihab, a Muslim scholar and expert on comparative religions who studied in Cairo and at Temple University in Philadelphia. He is a confidant of Mr. Wahid's from the president's National Awakening Party.
"He's very learned, very sophisticated," said Dewi Fortuna Anwar, an academic who was the foreign affairs adviser to former President B.J. Habibie. "I can't think of a better person to show the enlightened face of Islam to the Western world." Miss Anwar said she expected Mr.
Shihab to strike more "balance" in Indonesia's foreign policy – keeping good relations with the West but also improving ties with the Muslim world, Africa and Asia. Mr. Wahid said he would make his first official visit to China.
The new attorney general is Marzuki Darusman, chairman of the human rights commission and a leader of the reform wing of the former ruling party, Golkar.
The new social welfare minister is Hamzah Haz, leader of the United Development Party, and a defeated candidate for vice president. A new ministry was created for human rights. The job of minister of information was abolished.
With most political parties represented in the cabinet, the only question troubling some analysts was: Who would provide the opposition to government policies?
"I'm afraid the Parliament will not be critical enough," said Said Salim. "If that is so, the role of critic could well be played by the students." Others said the Parliament was likely to see a "functional opposition," meaning different parties might become critics on certain issues.
In remarks to reporters, Mr. Wahid also said he and Mrs. Megawati would like to meet the East Timorese independence leader, Xanana Gusmao, in Jakarta. A meeting with Mr. Gusmao, who is likely to become independent East Timor's first president, would indicate that Mr. Wahid wants to end the past bitterness and have good relations with the breakaway province.