Presidential Office Prospects

There is one remaining task that needs to be done following the cabinet restructuring three weeks ago. To this day, Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security Luhut Pandjaitan is concurrently the Presidential Chief of Staff. The President must amend this situation. Before a replacement is in place, it would be advantageous for all concerned time to review the function and the role of this strategic office, given its proximity to the center of power.

This office has sparked two essential questions since its establishment. One is whether it was really needed, given that the President already has 36 ministers at hand. Secondly, the function of the chief of staff overlaps with those of ministers and coordinating ministers. As a comparison, the United States, populated by 420 million people is governed only by 15 ministers and a presidential chief of staff, while China, with almost 1.5 billion population needs only 25 ministers to get its cabinet going.

August 25, 2015