Jakarta – Gerindra Party executive Habiburokhman said that adding new ministries to the upcoming administration of party patron and president-elect Prabowo Subianto would be a "good thing" for Indonesia to help address its vast arrays of issues.
His statement came amid reports that Prabowo is looking into adding new portfolios to accommodate demands from leaders of political parties who are eager to get more seats in the cabinet.
"I don't see any issues with involving as many people as possible [in the cabinet]," he was quoted by Antara as saying on Monday. "We are a big country with big challenges and big targets. It's only reasonable that we need a lot of people in the government."
Habiburokhman went on to dismiss concerns that a larger cabinet would only be geared toward accommodating the demands of political party leaders in the coalition, and to say that the final decision will still rest on the defense minister.
"The authority to form a cabinet, its makeup and the number [of ministers involved] rests solely on Pak Prabowo as the president-elect. Whether a bigger [cabinet] is deemed to be highly effective or ineffective, it's up to his considerations," Habiburokhman said.
Since his victory in the February election, Prabowo has repeatedly expressed his intention to assemble a big coalition in a bid to form a stable government.
With four parties in the legislature – Prabowo's own Gerindra Party, the Golkar Party, the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Democratic Party – already in his soon-to-be ruling coalition, the incoming president recently welcomed two new additions into his fold: the NasDem Party and the National Awakening Party (PKB).
Discussions between Prabowo, who will be inaugurated on Oct. 20, and major political parties in his coalition over which cabinet positions will be available to them, are already underway.
Prabowo's vice president-elect Gibran Rakabuming Raka has hinted that professionals will make up the majority of cabinet ministers in the incoming administration.
Gibran, the eldest son of outgoing President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo also added that Prabowo had the full prerogative to pick candidates for ministerial positions in the upcoming administration.
"There will be a lot of professionals. But please wait because any decision regarding cabinet ministers will be in the hands of Pak Prabowo as the president-elect," Gibran told reporters in Surakarta on Monday. (dds)