Susan Sim, Jakarta – As pep talks go, it was not particularly stirring, but symbolic nonetheless. Work as a solid and compact team; do not be like the previous Cabinet. Your ministries are vital to the nation's economic recovery.

Thus did Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri kick off an impromptu session with her two coordinating czars and five economic ministers almost immediately after swearing them in on Saturday.

But it was not really her meeting. President Abdurrahman Wahid called it and economic czar Rizal Ramli decided who would attend. "The President stressed the importance of the seven ministers in economic recovery. Ibu was supportive," one of those present told The Straits Times. Then President and veep swept out and Mr Rizal took over, laying the rules down for his five ministers.

Messrs Priyadi Praptosuharjo (Finance), Purnomo Yusgiantoro (Mines), Agum Gumelar (Telecommunication), Luhut Panjaitan (Trade and Industry) and Cacuk Sudarijanto (junior minister for economic recovery) will meet him every Monday morning to discuss agenda and priorities.

They will not talk about policy differences to the press. Sensible ground rules, considering how the previous team was seen as disorganised and racked by infighting from day one because ministers had no qualms questioning each other's expertise in public. If the Monday meeting can reach consensus on policy options, is there still a need for a time-consuming weekly Cabinet meeting to be chaired by Ms Megawati every Wednesday?

Or will it suffice for Mr Rizal to report his team's recommendations to her and obtain her endorsement? Ditto with the security, politics and social affairs team chaired by Lt-Gen Susilo Bambang Yudhyuno.

If she wants to stamp her authority on the government, then it would be crucial for the Vice-President to be seen leading regular Cabinet meetings and explaining the decisions to the public later. Yet, Ms Megawati said nothing about how often she wanted to meet the entire Cabinet during Saturday's pep rally, a minister said. Nor is it clear if she is ready to break a lifetime's habit of avoiding press conferences or start indulging in fireside chats with the nation.

By dint of the urgent tasks ahead, force of personality and sure media savvy, real power appears to be shifting towards Mr Rizal. Sure, Ms Megawati has a presidential decree, mandated by the highest legislative body, that makes her chief supervisor, able to "make operational decisions as part of the daily technical tasks of the government and sign decrees containing policies that have been approved by the President".

It is a task-sharing arrangement which plugs an obvious deficiency of the President – he is blind and has been signing state documents without verifying its contents personally.

Ms Megawati, an elected official who can be made accountable, is now the official co-signatory. But the operating phrase here is "policies that have been approved by the President".

The Vice-President is still not authorised to choose the next military chief, provincial governor or the heads of the country's treasure chests – Ibra, Bulog – without the explicit agreement of Mr Abdurrahman. She cannot alone decide if state enterprises will henceforth come under the supervision of Mr Cacuk or report to the other ministries.

Mr Rizal does not have such powers either, but he has the President's ear. Among the first things on his agenda today is whether Mr Cacuk gets to keep his Ibra post and gain the state enterprises to boot.

Chances are that Mr Abdurrahman will go along with whatever Mr Rizal recommends, since he has been the one briefing him on the economy for months now. The economic czar, close as he is to the President, knows how to coddle an unhappy but publicity-shy Vice-President. Some time is what he needs now. But there is not enough to squander.