Ina Parlina, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's political opponents say he can do little to improve his administration's performance through the ongoing Cabinet reshuffle, citing the move is not making the "pig" any prettier.
From his private residence in Cikeas, West Java, the President spent the past week busily summoning coalition party leaders and figures to be appointed in the ongoing Cabinet reshuffle, the lineup of which is expected to be announced soon. But these maneuvers fail to impress the opposition parties.
The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) and the Greater Indonesian Movement Party (Gerindra), for example, said on Saturday the reshuffle would not improve the Cabinet's performance.
Akbar Faisal from Hanura said Yudhoyono's maneuver was akin to "putting lipstick on a pig", since it would only accommodate government coalition parties and allocate more posts for them but not really improve the Cabinet.
"The President needs to make sure his Cabinet serves the public well, regardless of who is sitting there. We need capable people, not just polishing [Cabinet] with new figures from the coalition," he said.
"All arguments and considerations used by [Yudhoyono] in reshuffling the Cabinet are unrealistic. There is no real intension to improve the Cabinet's performance."
Yudhoyono had earlier said he would make sure the new Cabinet would comprise figures with capabilities and track records required for their new roles, but also said political considerations were playing a part in his decisions.
PDI-P secretary-general Tjahjo Kumolo urged the President to eliminate the burdens of political pressure from within the coalition. "It is his duty to make sure the Cabinet to do their best in serving the public. It is the public he must serve, not the coalition. He must rule out political pressure from the coalition in reshuffling the Cabinet," Tjahjo said.
Gerindra secretary-general Ahmad Muzani described the reshuffle scathingly as a pointless drama intended only "to save the face of Yudhoyono's administration".
The President also hinted that economic considerations had factored heavily in his move to reshuffle Cabinet.
However, on Friday Yudhoyono promoted the Education Ministry's inspector general for internal oversight, former Andalas University rector Musliar Kasim, to a new deputy minister position. Musliar is tasked to deal with education affairs while the other deputy minister, Fasli Jalal, will deal with tourism. This is the first time any of the country's bureaucracies has had two deputy ministers.
Ahmad criticized Yudhoyono's idea to nominate a second deputy education minister, pointing out that adding more people to Cabinet would not improve its performance but would create more inefficiency, particularly on financial issues. The addition of deputy ministers would add more red tape, not to mention overlapping authority, he said.
"The ministry must, of course, later allocate extra funding for personnel, including for housing and transportation allowances," Achmad said. "I see no effort to make the budget efficient here." Gerindra, he said, would not focus too much on the "drama". "We can only wait and see," he said.