Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the political party of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo, has given him a deadline to reshuffle his Cabinet by saying that people are demanding change on account of the sub-par performances of some ministers.
PDI-P central executive board head Andreas Hugo Pareira said on Saturday that Jokowi should announce the Cabinet changes right after the annual state address on Aug. 16.
"If possible, [the new lineup should be announced] right after the speech so that ministers can prepare to manage their budgets," he said during a discussion in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Saturday.
The party has been putting pressure on Jokowi since May, suggesting that the President should listen to the Great Indonesia Coalition, of which the PDI-P is a member, in reshuffling his Cabinet.
Jokowi has confirmed that he has received the required evaluation reports from his ministers and indicated there are Cabinet members who are in the "red zone". However, he declined to comment on whether he would use the reports as consideration in reshuffling the Cabinet.
"The people are putting pressure [on the government] because the people felt the [economic downturn] and we as a political party play the role of listening to people's aspirations. As a party that supported Jokowi, we have a moral and political obligation to give input to the government," said Andreas.
He singled out Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister Yuddy Chrisnandi as one of worst-performing ministers who should be shown the door.
"All these [problems] could be traced back to one cause, which is the sluggish work of the administrative and bureaucratic reform minister. The minister should have reformed and restructured the Cabinet," Andreas said.
Fellow PDI-P executive Rokhmin Dahuri earlier said that ministers whose policies had created economic problems should be given the ax. Rokhmin said Yuddy's decision to ban all government officials from holding meetings and conferences in hotels had dealt a blow to the hospitality industry.
Ikrar Nusa Bhakti, a senior political analyst from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said it was inappropriate for the PDI-P to put pressure on Jokowi.
"Technically the PDI-P can give input but there's no need for them to put political pressure on him by saying certain ministers are not being loyal [to the President] and giving a deadline," he told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
Ikrar said the PDI-P's move could create tension with other members of the ruling coalition who fear their position in the Cabinet could be in jeopardy. "There might be parties that feel uncomfortable knowing that their members will be kicked out [from the Cabinet]," he said.
Ikrar believed Jokowi would not give into the pressure, saying that he had consolidated his political base soon after he came into office in October last year.
"If you pay close attention, then you could see that Jokowi is in a much more powerful position now. He's more courageous, mature and authoritative in making decisions," he said. "For example, the pressure for a Cabinet shakeup has been going on since May, but the fact that he has not announced anything means he's taking his time and waiting for the right time."
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/08/09/pdi-p-gives-jokowi-reshuffle-deadline.html