By Andi Abdussalam
Jakarta (Antara Bali) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Boediono began on Thursday to discuss a cabinet reshuffle to replace non-performing ministers but so far the names of those who would go and who would come were still strictly in the president's hand.
Over the past few weeks, a number of names of ministers who are expected to be replaced in the Second United Indonesia Cabinet, have been mentioned in public discourses, yet the president denied the names that have been circulating in the public.
"I want to make clear that I have no knowledge about the names that are circulating in the public. Rumors have it now that Mr. So and So will be named ministers or will leave the cabinet," the president said referring to the rumors.
He said that he had tightly kept the information about the cabinet reshuffle a secret. "There is no single piece of information about it that I have leaked to the public. So, the rumors are beyond my knowledge," the president said.
According to Anas Urbanighrum, general chairman of the ruling Democrat Party (PD), the president has made a list of those who will be replaced and those who will take up new posts in the cabinet which would serve the last three years of Yudhoyono's second term of government.
"The president has prepared a list of his new ministers," said Anas Urbaningrum on Sunday. The Democrat Party is ready to support the president's lists of new ministers. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono previously said that he would refresh the cabinet and allowed the Democrat Party to select the appropriate figures to replace the old cabinet, according to Anas.
Yet, Presidential Special Staff for Political Communications Daniel Sparinga said that the selections of new ministers until now did not involve outsiders apart from the president himself and the vice president.
Daniel said that President Yudhoyono and Vice President Boediono had begun on Thursday to discuss the cabinet reshuffle. "What I know is that the president and vice president have just held a tete-a-tete," Daniel said when he was contacted at the president's Cikeas residence on Thursday.
He said that the discussion proceeded in an isolated place and was still restricted to the president and vice president themselves so that it was sterile from politics. He said that the meeting between president and political party leaders would take place only after the president and vice president completed their meeting.
"Rational matters will all become considerations this time. Rational matters must come first, others may come later," the presidential staff said.
On Thursday, the president and vice president began the meeting at 4 pm. At 5 pm, chief of the presidential working unit for development control Kuntoro Mangkusubroto also entered the president's residence.
Apart from that, also present were Minister/State Secretary Sudi Silalahi and Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam.
Daniel said that the president was not willing to cover up the process of the cabinet reshuffle and but to protect it from unnecessary noises.
"The president will in time tell the people about the cabinet reshuffle directly. Now is a time of calm," Daniel said.
According to Anas Urbaningrum, Yudhoyono has decided to replace certain ministers in order to improve the performance of his cabinet in the coming three years of his last term of office.
"The cabinet will be reshuffled to improve its performance," he said. Anas said that the Democratic Party will support the president's decision on the new ministers, because he must have selected them very carefully.
After the cabinet reshuffle, every newly elected minister is expected to be more productive and able to implement all governmental programs properly and efficiently.
Therefore, lawmakers hoped that the cabinet reshuffle would not constitute only a change of personnel but a change to progress and improved performance.
Ramadhan Pohan of House Commission II on home affairs said that the new cabinet should bring a batter change to the people. "What becomes our hope is that everything will change to the better at the end of President Yudhoyono's government. We do not want to disturb his concentration in carrying out his duties," Ramadhan said.
The same hope was also expressed by Bambang Adhyaksa, member of the executive board of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He said that about 80 percent of the cabinet members must be replaced by those who would take side with people.
Bambang Adhyaksa said members of the cabinet should learn a lesson from their predecessors. "The President had better summoned those of the old cabinet who had made achievement to learn how to carry out the administration," he said.
In the meantime, Bambang Soesatyo of the Golkar Party said the cabinet reshuffle should bring impact to the national and people interest, not only to the interest of political parties and certain elite groups.
"The present government is built with strength from political parties without considering the competence of the ministers now in the cabinit," Bambang Soesatyo said.(*)
