On Wednesday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced the names of the new ministers in this year’s reshuffle.
In a bid to support effectiveness in Indonesia’s Working Cabinet (also known as Kabinet Kerja), President Widodo decided to hold a second round of reshuffles after the first one which took place in August last year.
The reshuffle has brought about the following changes:
- Sri Mulyani Indrawati replaces Bambang Brodjonegoro as Finance Minister
- Wiranto replaces Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan as Chief Security Minister
- Archandra Tahar replaces Sudirman Said as Energy and Mineral Resources Minister
- Budi Karya Sumadi replaces Ignasius Jonan as Transportation Minister
- Airlangga Hartarto replaces Saleh Husin as Industry Minister
- Muhajir Effendi replaces Anies Baswedan as Education Minister
- Eko Putro Sanjoyo replaces Marwan Jafar as Villages, Disadvantaged Regions & Transmigration Minister
- Asman Abnur replaces Yuddy Chrisnandi as Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister
- Enggartiasto Lukita replaces Thomas Lembong as Trade Minister
- Thomas Lembong replaces Franky Sibarani as BKPM Head
- Bambang Brodjonegoro becomes Head of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas)
At least two names from this new list have caught the attention of the public: Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Wiranto. Before being reassigned as the Finance Minister, Sri Mulyani had taken on the job from 2005 to 2010 under former president Susilo Bambang Yudhyono before eventually leaving for World Bank Group in 2010.
The name Wiranto has also piqued interests and received some international criticism due to his alleged involvement in cases of human rights violations in East Timor in 1999. President Widodo has entrusted the former military chief with national security and hopes that he will be able to bring reform to the justice system in Indonesia:
“I have instructed Pak Wiranto to carry out legal reform, both in national and local legislation,” the president said as reported by The Jakarta Post.
President Widodo further revealed that his decision to reshuffle was based on his motivation to tackle the economic issues in this country, particularly in erasing the widening gap between the rich and the poor.