The ongoing debate over whether President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will reshuffle his cabinet seems to have missed the point. And the President himself, as well as Vice President Jusuf Kalla, has contributed to the prolonged confusion.
On a visit to a fruit farm in the West Java town of Bogor on Sunday, Yudhoyono said he would not bow to pressure from political parties to shake up his two-and-a-half-year-old Cabinet. He added, however, that he would consult the parties whose representatives at the Cabinet would be replaced.
Some 500 kilometers away in Yogyakarta, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said another limited reshuffle was imminent and the Golkar Party, which he chairs, would be ready to sit in the cabinet.
Both the President and his deputy have not only sent conflicting signals on the reshuffle, but have reduced it to political chit-chat.
Going into the second half of his tenure, Yudhoyono looks to have lost his touch with the millions of voters who helped him win the presidency in 2004 with their faith in his ability to bring change to the country.
There is indeed an urgent need for a cabinet reshuffle as some ministers have failed to perform or have lost public trust due to their blatant conflict of interests. A reshuffle is not about Kalla or pressure from political parties that make up the president's rainbow United Indonesia Cabinet.
Whether the political pressure exists or not, replacement of a certain cabinet member is warranted when he or she can no longer perform or has spoiled the public's trust in the government. Even Yudhoyono should have substituted or asked Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Aburizal Bakrie to resign over his links to the mudflow in the East Java town of Sidoarjo. The presence of Aburizal, whose family owns PT Lapindo Brantas, which has been blamed for the disaster, in the cabinet has possibly slowed the solution to problem through the obvious conflict of interest.
The public's sense of justice has been humiliated by the recent confession of Justice and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaluddin and Cabinet Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra of their role in the transfer of money belonging to Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra back to Indonesia when the son of former president Soeharto was an inmate. Kalla has defended the two cabinet members, and worse, Yudhoyono has taken no action against them, at least visibly.
The replacement of Transportation Minister Hatta Radjasa was a much-vaunted issue following a recent series of accidents involving airplanes and ships. But nothing happened. It is business as usual.
In his defense of his refusal to reshuffle his cabinet, Yudhoyono said Sunday that he gave priority to the continuity of his government.
With less than one year of his effective period left, President Yudhoyono cannot wait for more reasons to shake up his cabinet. He cannot let some ministers undermine his government's programs and credibility.
Next year all political parties, including the President, Vice President and political figures who hold posts in the cabinet, will start gearing up for the elections. Yudhoyono knows well how difficult the situation next year will be, as he experienced it when he served as a minister under President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
A cabinet reshuffle maybe a bit late for Yudhoyono to conduct, but it's better late than never. A reshuffle means better teamwork among cabinet members to deliver on promises the Yudhoyono administration has been unable to materialize in the first half of its term. More than just a want, a reshuffle is a need.