Jakarta – Former Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly said on Monday that President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo gave no details as to why he decided to appoint a new figure to replace him in the cabinet.
Yasonna claimed that he had a private meeting with President Jokowi on Sunday night on the eve of Monday's fresh cabinet reshuffle.
"There's no explanation from him. I also did not question it to him," Yasonna was quoted by Kompas.com on Monday during a farewell event at the Law and Human Rights Ministry headquarters in South Jakarta.
Yasonna said, however, he could sense that the President would sack him in a cabinet shake-up.
The senior Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) figure said he had prepared to tender his resignation letter to President Jokowi in September.
Yasonna has secured a win in the legislative race in the Feb. 14 general election, securing a seat for an electoral district in North Sumatra.
In Monday's cabinet reshuffle, Yasonna, who has served as Law and Human Rights Minister since 2014, was replaced by senior Gerindra Party politician Supratman Andi Agtas.
Analysts have said that Yasonna's removal from the cabinet, together with former energy and mineral resources minister Arifin Tasrif, also a PDI-P politician, marked another low point in the relationship between the President and the winner of this year's legislative election.