Jakarta – Chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN) Zulkifli Hasan, a close ally of Prabowo Subianto said on Wednesday that the president-elect could appoint up to 44 individuals to sit in the next cabinet.
Zulkifli, who currently serves as trade minister under the administration of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said that Prabowo's cabinet would definitely be bigger than that of the outgoing President.
"There will definitely be more ministers. It will be around 44 ministers," Zulkifli said as quoted by Kompas.com.
When asked if PAN would get at least five ministerial seats in the upcoming administration, Zulkifli said that it would be the prerogative of the president-elect to decide the composition of his cabinet.
PAN was one of the first political parties to join the coalition to nominate Prabowo in the February presidential election.
Earlier this week, People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Bambang Soesatyo also indicated that Prabowo could appoint 44 ministers in his cabinet.
On Monday, the House of Representatives and the government agreed to remove a legal limit on the number of ministries a president may have, a change that would allow Prabowo to expand his cabinet.
The House plans to rush the deliberation of the 2008 Ministry Law, which limits the number of ministries to 34, and expects to pass an amendment to the law before Prabowo's inauguration on Oct. 20.