Jokowi’s Strategy Behind Cabinet Reshuffle

TWO months before the end of their term, presidents usually preparing to leave office. Statesmanship is demonstrated by not interfering in the business of the president-elect—even if his or her replacement has the same political background. The conduct of Joko Widodo is far from these statesman-like norms.

Jokowi is behaving as if he will remain in power for another two terms. He is busy orchestrating political activities. He still believes the importance of maintaining his image and his public approval according to opinion polls. It is no surprise that he still feels the need to make use of influencers with their millions of social media followers. Last week, with less than eight weeks to go until the end of his administration, Jokowi reshuffled his cabinet.

Jokowi replaced three ministers and added another two deputy ministers. He also appointed a number of heads of agencies and offices on Monday, August 19. Justice and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Hamonangan Laoly was replaced by Gerindra Party politician Supratman Andi Agtas. Bahlil Lahadalia was appointed Energy and Mineral Resources Minister, replacing Arifin Tasrif. The position vacated by Bahlil as Investment Minister/Head of the Investment Coordinating Board was filled by Rosan Perkasa Roeslani, former head of the Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka campaign team.

The Palace has said that this reshuffle was done to support the transition of power to the Prabowo Administration. But it was more to accommodate the interests of Jokowi than those of his replacement. Perhaps Jokowi hopes that these new officials that he appointed will retain their positions in the Prabowo-Gibran government. If that happens, he will still have influence in the new cabinet.

Jokowi also used an obvious political approach in the appointment of new officials. Bahlil, a trusted associate who last week was suddenly appointed General Chair of the Golkar Party by acclamation, was given a job previously occupied by a representative of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). It is as if Jokowi wanted to keep control of this post, which is highly influential regarding activities related to mining.

Jokowi also fired another PDI-P representative, Justice Minister Yasonna Laoly. This job is also important in the administration of political party matters, including approving a new chair and executive board members for political parties. It is expected that this new minister will be able to smooth the way for the takeover of political parties, as was done with the Golkar Party. Party leaders play a key role in the process of nominating candidates for the simultaneous regional head elections, which will take place shortly.

And there is something strange about the appointment of the Chair of the National Nutrition Agency. There are no plans, including funding, for this agency this year. It was only established in order to carry out the Prabowo-Gibran campaign promise to provide free nutritional meal for school students. The question is, was this cabinet reshuffle carried out to prepare Prabowo’s incoming cabinet, or to support Jokowi’s political intentions?

And in the remaining two months, what will these new ministers be able to do to “improve the performance of the government?” There is no need for new ministers to “smooth the transition to a new government” because Prabowo has already established a transition team led by Sufmi Dasco Ahmad and an Assistance Team headed by Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin. This means that the only possibility is that this cabinet reshuffle is part of Jokowi’s strategy at the end of his time in power.

It is important to remember that although he was elected in a general election characterized by many violations assisted by the Jokowi regime, Prabowo has full authority to decide on the composition of his cabinet. He does not need to retain officials appointed for the personal interests of Jokowi. He is free to decide which personnel he trusts. It would be far better if the cabinet were composed of professionals, not those chosen simply to accommodate political interests.

Given these latest developments, Prabowo, and also the public, would be right to ask: “What are you planning, Pak Jokowi?”