President Jokowi Installs New Cabinet Secretary

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has appointed Andi Widjajanto as the new cabinet secretary in his working cabinet.

"We installed the new cabinet secretary this morning," the president stated while opening a cabinet plenary meeting at his office here on Monday.

President Jokowi did not reveal the name of the new cabinet secretary, but Andi Widjajanto earlier remarked at the presidential compound last Thursday that the president had called and requested him to cooperate with the minister/state secretary.

The difference between the role played by the minister/state secretary and the cabinet secretary was that the minister/state secretary would serve the president as the head of state, while the cabinet secretary would serve the president as the head of government in order to avoid dualism between the two institutions, Andi explained.  

Therefore, while opening the cabinet plenary meeting, the president urged the minister/state secretary to work in tandem with the cabinet secretary.

"It is to make the two institutions even better," emphasized the president, who was also scheduled to receive numerous state guests at the Merdeka Palace later on Monday.

Earlier, Minister/State Secretary Pratikno confirmed that there would be no new appointment in the ministry, which has lately been formed, in an effort to put an end to interministerial sectoral ego.

"We are avoiding any new recruitment," Pratikno notified the press at the presidential palace compound last Tuesday.

According to him, the policy to avoid any new recruitment was a bid to optimize the utilization of resources in various other ministries.

Pratikno noted that by optimizing the resources of other ministries, it would enable the new ministries to start functioning at the earliest.

He pointed out that moving the staff from other ministries to the newly formed ministries will help to circumvent the issue of sectoral ego.

"By leaving behind sectoral ego, all can be worked out together," added Pratikno, the former rector of Gajah Mada University. (WDY)