Anton Hermansyah, Jakarta – Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung has denied reports by several online portals about President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's intention to replace several of his ministers.

Speculation had grown stronger on Monday when the President summoned several ministers, including Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan and his deputy minister Arcandra Tahar.

"The meeting was about the assessment of officials [in several ministries] to be assigned as the first echelon officials in their respective institutions, nothing else," Pramono said at the State Palace in Jakarta on Monday.Read also: Parties brace for possible Cabinet reshuffle

Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saefuddin, who also attended the meeting, confirmed that the meeting was to discuss the replacement of high-ranking ministerial officials, including those in his ministry.

Lukman did not explain about reshuffle in his ministry, saying that evaluations of six high positions were being carried out at the ministry.

President Jokowi has reshuffled his Cabinet Ministers twice during his term so far – in August 2015 and July 2016. Jokowi was said to have informed several political parties in May about his plan to reshuffle high-ranking officials. (bbn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/07/18/government-denies-cabinet-reshuffle-reports.html