Najla Nur Fauziyah, Jakarta – Indonesia's President-elect Prabowo Subianto spills reasoning for his large cabinet, claiming it's necessary for a strong government.

"This is a large country, Bung!" he remarked while attending the BNI Investor Daily Summit 2024 forum, monitored from the YouTube of Investor Daily TV, quoted on Thursday, October 10, 2024.

He brought up Timor Leste as an example, a country with only around 1.3 million population but has 28 cabinet members. According to Prabowo, this occurred due to the government's large coalition.

"If we were an authoritarian country with only one political party, we could run this country with only 20 to 24 ministers," he said.

However, Prabowo said he did not wish for that to happen, as he believed a leader must be able to maintain harmony within the government. Prabowo has taken a firm stance to uphold unity and embrace all forces.

Thus, Prabowo said he's embracing all parties, so everyone is represented in his cabinet. "Every group must have a representative, from the eastern, western, and central Indonesia. From tribe a, tribe b," he said.

The Prabowo-Gibran government is expected to expand the number of its ministers. The Gerindra Party elites are intensively formulating the nomenclature of the ministries in Prabowo-Gibran's cabinet, which are said to undergo a major transformation.

Gerindra Party Chair Sufmi Dasco Ahmad responded to the splitting of several ministries in Prabowo's cabinet. "It will be finalized before the presidential inauguration," said Dasco at the parliamentary complex, Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Thursday, September 26.

According to Dasco, expanding the number of cabinet members is intended to optimize ministerial tasks to fulfill Prabowo-Gibran's campaign promises.

– Novali Panji Nugroho, Petir Garda B

Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/1926788/president-elect-prabowo-spills-reasoning-for-large-cabine