Camelia Pasandaran – Political analysts on Friday warned President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono against attempting to placate as many factions as possible by offering seats in his cabinet, saying this would only weaken his administration.

Bima Arya Sugiarto, a political analyst and member of Yudhoyono's successful re-election team, said that "judging from the hints from the president, it is likely he will again consider representation for all a wide range of groups."

Bima said the president would start letting potential candidates know they were being considered. The previous cabinet was composed mainly of political party officials, professionals, businessmen, military leaders and those who had already served in the body.

According to data from consultancy Charta Politika, 51 percent of this nation's cabinet members have been professionals, 30.5 percent from political parties and 17 percent from the military.

Ministers from the business world accounted for less than 10 percent of the ministerial seats, and about 30 percent of the cabinet members have been incumbents.

Bima predicted that Yudhoyono would try to represent a spectrum of political, regional, religious and ethnic backgrounds and spread out the appointments among academics, business professionals and bureaucrats.

Candidates who represent multiple groups may have more barriers to a cabinet seat, Bima said, adding that some notable exceptions would be presidential spokesman Andi Malarangeng, sitting State Secretary Hatta Rajasa and Joko Syanto, deputy chairman for the president's re-election campaign.

He said Yudhoyono might also decide to adjust the composition of his cabinet. "There is small possibility that he will change the structure of his cabinet for his second term," Bima said. "However, he probably will increase the number of ministers from professional backgrounds."

Faisal Basri, an economist, said that in order to build a strong cabinet, Yudhoyono should not focus too much on representing as many groups as possible.

"Representing regions or particular groups is not relevant for building strong government," he said on Friday. "It may have some significance, but not all categories should be represented in the next cabinet. For regional representation, we already have House members to represent their constituents and regional legislative councils," he said.

Faisal said that the most important factor in cobbling together a cabinet was a clear five-year plan. "The main problem with previous ministries was the absence of direction," he said. "If the president put his dreams into a clear agenda and strategy, structuring of the cabinet would be easier. He only needs to find people who can hammer out his vision, rather than focusing on representation."