Irvan Tisnabudi – The newly appointed finance minister held out an olive branch to lawmakers on Monday, telling them he needed their "trust" and cooperation if he was to succeed in reforming the ministry, including its tainted tax office, and in raising tax revenue.

"I would like to ask for and earn the trust of you ladies and gentlemen in facing these cases which are tainting our image," Agus Martowardojo said, referring to a number of controversial tax cases involving allegations of bribery and collusion.

Agus was appealing to members of the House of Representative's Commission XI, which oversees financial affairs. "My ministry would benefit from political support from the commission," he added.

The fact that the minister felt the need to make such a gesture less than three weeks after being given his post indicates just what a rough start he has had.

Over the weekend, the head of the House budget committee, Golkar Party legislator Harry Azhar Azis, threatened lawmakers might stall discussions on the 2011 state budget if the government rejected Golkar's controversial proposal to give each House member Rp 15 billion ($1.6 million) to spend on their constituencies. Agus has already made clear his rejection of the idea.

When the appointment was announced, even his many supporters acknowledged that, while a highly capable banker, he lacked experience in the political arena. Others questioned whether he had the stomach to stand up to the reform opponents in the House that had succeeded in helping drive away Sri Mulyani Indrawati, his predecessor.

Agus quickly made enemies by standing up to lawmakers, drawing criticism for being "unprofessional" for missing a Commission XI hearing, and scorn for refusing to replace two top tax officials.

But on Monday, during a hearing into controversial recent tax-evasion cases, he tried to make peace. "I need the trust of Commission XI, and I don't want any more misunderstandings between myself and the House," Agus said, adding that their cooperation was vital to continuing the reforms at the ministry, especially at the beleaguered tax office.

Several lawmakers acknowledged that better relations between the commission and the minister would be more productive, but indicated that it was up to Agus to do the bulk of the work to improve the situation.

Arif Budimanta, a commission member from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said Agus's work would be closely monitored.

"The reform efforts in the tax office need more of a push," he said. "What's to be proud of at the moment, when tax office employees have had their salaries increased but tax revenue went down and many tax-evasion cases have surfaced?"

Agus, however, drew a line in the sand over calls to sack the director general of the tax office, Mochamad Tjiptarjo. "I have no plan to do that yet," he said.