Hans David Tampubolon, Jakarta – Political parties in the ruling coalition on Tuesday played down speculation fueled by Democratic Party politicians on a possible Cabinet shake-up, calling it mere "opinions".
United Development Party (PPP) legislator M. Romahurmuzy said he doubted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would reshuffle his Cabinet anytime soon.
"The rumor was spread because there are a number of politicians from the Democratic Party hoping to head certain ministries by taking the advantage of the President's expected annual evaluation of his Cabinet," he said.
He argued the President would not opt for the move because a Cabinet restructuring would be too risky for the Yudhoyono administration. "The reshuffle will create political instability and polemics in the coalition," he said.
"Yudhoyono surely doesn't want any new problems emerging in the second year of his administration, especially after the Bank Century scandal shook the first year of his second term as President," Romahurmuzy said.
On Tuesday, Democratic Party executive Achnasul Qosasi hinted that five ministers would be subject to a performance evaluation and possible reshuffle later this year.
The five ministers named were Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Darwin Zahedy Saleh, Communications and Information Technology Minister Tifaul Sembiring, Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar and Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto.
Freddy and Darwin are from the Democratic Party, Tifaul is from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), Partrialis is from the National Mandate Party (PAN) and Djoko is a career technocrat. "Whether these five are reshuffled, however, would depend entirely on the President," Achnasul said.
Freddy was allegedly embroiled in a romantic affair and Darwin was hurt by allegations of sex tapes this year, and a possible reshuffle in the two ministries is rumored to be related to the alleged scandals.
PAN secretary-general Taufik Kurniawan shrugged off speculations of a reshuffle, saying Patrialis had worked effectively and contributed fully at his ministry. He said he hoped the President's evaluation of his Cabinet would not always result in a reshuffle, as one year was not a sufficient period in which to assess the overall performance of a minister.
"We hope the President will make a wise and shrewd decision when evaluating his ministers. However, a Cabinet reshuffle remains the prerogative of the President, and we respect that," Taufik said.
PKS deputy secretary-general Mahfudz Siddiq said his party would not make any political moves in response to the speculation because the President had not announced any plans to rearrange his Cabinet.
"Previously, the President had promised that should there be any reshuffle plan, he would convey this matter to the leaders of political parties. We're holding him to that promise," Mahfudz said. (tsy)