Yerica Lai, Jakarta – An aide of Prabowo Subianto claimed on Tuesday that the president-elect had not started discussions with his coalition members about the composition of his incoming cabinet because he was still focusing on ensuring that his campaign promises could be fulfilled during his presidency.
"Discussions about how to fill the cabinet, who is in the cabinet, how many people are in the cabinet have never been discussed," Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, senior politician at Prabowo's Gerindra Party, said on Tuesday.
The statement came while lawmakers at the House of Representatives Legislation Body (Baleg) debate whether to revise the law governing the cabinet makeup and remove the maximum number of ministries.
A Prabowo team has reportedly begun vetting potential candidates to be included in the cabinet, something that Dasco denied.
"We haven't even talked about ministerial candidates or nomenclature, so how are we going to meet the person?" Dasco said.
He said that Prabowo was still taking his time to focus instead on "formulating and reviewing" programs he had promised on the election campaign trail, including his free school lunch initiative.
"How we use the existing budget, the program design and the distribution of the lunches, these are all still being formulated," Dasco said.
"This is still not final and is being studied in simulations. Comparative studies are also being carried out in several countries that have successfully implemented such lunch programs," Dasco said.
Previously, Gerindra politician Habiburokhman said negotiations were already underway between Prabowo and major political parties in his coalition over which cabinet positions will be available to them, amid reports that political parties are jostling for strategic posts in the incoming administration, particularly for energy and mineral resources minister.
Gerindra and several members of Prabowo's coalition, namely Golkar and the Democratic Party, have thrown their weight behind increasing the number of ministries, which they believe would help the country address many of its issues.