The
latest Cabinet shake-up announced by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on the
eve of the third year of his second and last term in office has sent a negative
signal to the market and the public in general, as his new working team has
simply strengthened our perception of his being strongly beholden to the
political parties within his coalition government.
The reshuffle of his working team, long
overdue, was the last chance for the President to show the people that he is
really in charge and ready and willing to take bold, firm decisions for the
interests of the country.
However, contrary to the Cabinet reshuffle he
made in early December 2005, during his first presidential term when he
established perhaps the best economic team since 2000, headed by Boediono (now
the Vice President), the new Cabinet simply trumpets, "it is business as
usual."
Instead of bringing in more professionals,
regardless of their political affiliations, Yudhoyono has overloaded his
Cabinet with so many deputy ministers that his working team is at the risk of
self-destructing in the areas of coordination and job implementation.
At a time when bold, quick decisions and firm
actions are needed to cope with the big uncertainties about the global economy,
due to the government debt woes in Europe and economic slump in the United
States, the President has instead erected "bumps" in the way of
decision-making and job execution.
Even with clear-cut job descriptions and scope
of responsibilities, it would be difficult to achieve strong teamwork in the
ministries because each of the ministers and deputy ministers would feel
accountable only to the President, who appointed them.
Who then is really in charge in the
ministries? Will the President give the deputy ministers - many of whom are
experienced professionals with considerable technical competence - adequate
political backing to ensure their policies and actions are not second-guessed
by the ministers, which would thereby make them vulnerable to political
attacks?
This is an incredibly divisive administration,
and a dangerous one for that matter, because what is sorely needed now is a
Cabinet dominated by professionals, who enjoy strong political backing to cope
with the external threats from the discouraging global economic conditions.
The President never seems willing to learn the
lessons from the failure of his coalition to advance his legislative agenda
because of the constant backstabbing by his coalition partners.
True, there are concerns that a Cabinet
without representation from the coalition partners would not be able to survive
in such a fragmented political system, where there are nine parties in the
legislature.
But after gaining almost 62 percent of the
vote in the 2009 presidential election, Yudhoyono should have exercised more
courage to reach out directly to the people, communicating and marketing his
vision and programs of action to alleviate poverty, combat corruption and other
measures to improve people's welfare.
But Yudhoyono seems to remain aloof, far
removed from the nitty-gritty of governing, continuing to pander to popular
sentiment and polishing his image, while doing nothing to assure people that
the government is in charge and is doing its best to boost economic growth and
reduce unemployment and poverty.
At most, the Cabinet has only about 18 months
remaining to function as a united working team because, starting in mid-2013 at
the latest, the ministers representing six different political parties will
embark on their respective political agendas, as they gear up for the
legislative elections in April 2014 and presidential election thereafter.
News Desk
The Jakarta Post
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