M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced Friday that he would reshuffle his United Indonesia Cabinet in early May, ending months of speculation on the topic. He said the reshuffle would be limited to a few positions.

"God willing, I will announce the limited cabinet reshuffle in early May. So it will be about two weeks from now," Yudhoyono said in a snap press briefing organized after Friday prayers at the Baitur Rahman mosque inside the Presidential Palace compound.

Yudhoyono said the planned cabinet reshuffle was aimed at improving the performance of his administration. "My government faces a daunting task to improve the people's welfare," he said.

Yudhoyono has been under a tremendous pressure to decide on a cabinet shake-up following the lackluster performance of his administration in the first half of its term.

Yudhoyono's administration has also been bogged down by a number of problematic ministers, including Coordinating Minister for Social Welfare Aburizal Bakrie, who has been mired in the Lapindo mudflow problem, Justice and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaluddin and State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra, who were implicated in a plot to collect money belonging to former president Soeharto's son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra from a British bank, and Transportation Minister Hatta Radjasa, who has felt the heat from a string of transportation disasters.

Health problems have also hampered Yudhoyono's cabinet. A total of 13 ministers are reported to be ill, with Home Affairs Minister M. Ma'ruf currently being treated at a Singaporean hospital.

Among the ministers reported to be suffering from health problems are Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basyuni, State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar, State Minister for Administrative Reform Taufik Effendi, Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto and State Minister for State-owned Enterprises Sugiharto. All are believed to be suffering from heart problems.

It has also been rumored that some senior ministers, including Coordinating Minister for Security and Political Affairs Widodo A.S., Coordinating Minister for the Economy Boediono and Defense Minister Juwono Soedarsono, have tendered their resignation letters.

In spite of the shabby form of his cabinet, Yudhoyono said Sunday during a trip to a fruit farm in Bogor, West Java, that he would not have a cabinet shake-up and that he would not bow to pressure from the political parties that had submitted the resumes of candidates they wanted to place in his new cabinet.

The statement, however, did not end the public speculation that a cabinet shuffle was imminent, with April 21 regarded as a likely date.

Responding to Yudhoyono's statement, Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that Golkar Party never proposed names of candidates for ministerial posts. "But if we are asked, we have hundreds of party members who will be ready to fill in the positions," Kalla told reporters after a Golkar Party function.