Jakarta – An executive of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said on Wednesday that no leaders of political parties in its coalition would be nominated for ministerial positions in the Joko "Jokowi" Widodo administration.
Secretary general of the PDI-P Tjahjo Kumolo said that his party chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairman of the People's Conscience Party (Hanura) Wiranto and chairman of the NasDem Party Surya Paloh would not be appointed as ministers by Jokowi.
Tjahjo said that Jokowi expected that there would be no political appointees in his Cabinet so that ministers would not be hindered in their ministerial work by their duties in running their political parties.
"Whoever is appointed as minister, their focus will be to assist the president," Tjahjo said after accompanying Megawati in an orientation program for the PDI-P's newly-elected councilors at an event in Central Jakarta.
As for the National Awakening Party (PKB), chairman Muhaimin Iskandar said that there would be more talks about his possible appointment. The PKB leadership has been making demands that Muhaimin be included in the line-up for Jokowi's Cabinet.
The Jokowi-Jusuf Kalla candidacy was endorsed by three political parties: the NasDems, the PKB and Hanura with a total of 207 out of 560 seats in the House of Representatives.
At the PDI-P orientation program Megawati told party members who were elected as councilors to remain in their position until their tenure expired. Megawati also warned local PDI-P politicians against using their positions as speakers of local councils to run in local elections.
"Ibu Megawati instructed anyone who was elected as DPRD speakers not to run as regional leader candidates," said Tjahjo. He said that Megawati had the newly-elected councilors sign a pact on the pledge.
More than 900 newly elected councilors from every electoral district in the country where the PDI-P won seats attended the meeting.
Megawati also told the councilors to retain their humility. "I see that most of the participants here are newcomers. I remind you that a legislative position is not something to boast about," she said.
Megawati also told the politicians to work hard to achieve victory in the 2019 legislative election.
The PDI-P won the most seats in the April 9 legislative election after garnering 18.95 percent of the vote or around 23.6 million votes, which translated into 109 seats in the House of Representatives.
In the orientation program, Megawati also warned the politicians not to get involved in corruption and that the PDI-P would not provide legal assistance if they were charged with graft. "We have given enough warnings. Anyone involved in a corruption case is on their own," Megawati said.
Besides Megawati and Tjahjo, other executives of the PDI-P who attended the orientation program included PDI-P faction leader at the House of Representatives Puan Maharani and members of the party's central board Eriko Sotarduga and Ahmad Basarah.
Earlier, Jokowi said that any individuals appointed as ministers in his Cabinet must not have ties to political parties. "We're still discussing this, but I hope anyone who will be appointed minister can sever all ties with their political parties," Jokowi said. (idb)
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/08/14/party-leaders-won-t-be-jokowi-s-cabinet-pdi-p.html