Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, Jakarta – Several Indonesian ministers are discontented with President Joko Widodo's overspending on social aid and seeming partiality ahead of elections on Feb 14, but they are likely to remain in their posts to maintain government stability, sources told The Straits Times.
One such Cabinet member was Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who had privately conveyed her discontent to Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri, the chairwoman of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), two people said on condition of anonymity.
They disclosed that Ms Megawati had advised Dr Sri Mulyani, as well as other disgruntled ministers, against quitting before their term ends in October, citing the need to maintain national stability.
Dr Sri Mulyani, a 61-year-old veteran technocrat, is understood to be concerned about the impact of the social aid expenditure on her credentials and reputation. In the Jan 31 cover page of Tempo newspaper, she was depicted as if she took part in conspiring in the imprudent use of state coffers for politics.
The government has stepped up distributing cash handouts and rice packages since November 2023. Some observers noted that the increase in social aid has exceeded the amount given out during the pandemic and that the handouts were labelled as "president's aid", even though the funds came from state coffers. Funds earmarked for social aid in 2022 were 460.6 billion rupiah (S$39.4 million), compared with 496.8 billion rupiah in 2024.
The sources said other ministers affiliated to PDI-P have also considered resigning, over Mr Widodo's seeming partiality towards supporting the pairing of his son Gibran Rakabuming Raka and presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, instead of PDI-P candidates Ganjar Pranowo and Mahfud MD.
The Cabinet consists of cadres or professionals affiliated to political parties and non-partisan technocrats, who sometimes are also close to certain political parties.
Of the 34 ministers in the Cabinet, six are from PDI-P and several others are close to the party chairman, including Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and Dr Sri Mulyani. Both ministers have occasionally held discussions with Ms Megawati and maintain good relations with her.
Some of the ministers from PDI-P have consulted with Ms Megawati following strained relations between the ruling party and Mr Widodo, whom they accused of breaching democratic norms and using his institutional privileges to favour the Prabowo-Gibran ticket in the three-way race.
There were reported instances of Mr Ganjar's supporters being restrained by security officers during rallies, and their posters were taken down by the security officers.
The third presidential candidate Anies Baswedan faced an unexpected region-wide electricity blackout just as he was about to hold a rally in Madura, East Java. He went ahead with the event and the power supply returned to normal thereafter. Mr Anies' campaign team blamed state utility PLN for its unprofessionalism. PLN declined to comment when asked by The Straits Times.
The president's alleged partiality has already prompted vice-presidential candidate Professor Mahfud to announce his resignation as chief security minister on Jan 31.
One of the sources told ST that Ms Megawati "fully understands that if ministers resign in a group, that would fuel instability, which in turn would hurt the lowest income-earners the most".
Mr Yoes Kenawas, a research fellow at Atma Jaya Catholic University, told ST: "Social aid had been used as a political tool in past campaigns in Indonesia and elsewhere. This is not the first time, but the magnitude of the increase (in social aid) this time exceeded all past instances."
"It even exceeded that during Covid when we actually needed the most," he noted.
On Feb 1, Mr Widodo announced a 600,000 rupiah cash handout for 19 million families to mitigate rising food prices, to be distributed before the Feb 14 election. Earlier, a 200,000-rupiah cash handout – called the El Nino mitigation fund – was given out. The president also personally handed out 10kg of rice packs to locals in a village in Salatiga, Central Java.
This social aid would positively affect Mr Widodo's approval ratings, which would in turn boost the chances of the presidential candidate he favours, Mr Yoes said.
The recipients were also told the handouts were "presidential aid", which in fact was government aid, Mr Yoes said, stressing that the funds used obviously came from the state coffers, not from an individual.
A senior government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Dr Sri Mulyani also took issue with the rechannelling of funds allocated for another purpose, to social aid.
Dr Sri Mulyani served as finance minister between 2005 and 2010 during the tenure of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. She then served as the World Bank managing director for six years through 2016 in Washington before returning to Indonesia, where she was appointed finance minister by Mr Widodo.
Under her leadership, the ministry launched efficiency drives that allowed spending and economic development in a more equitable manner.