August 19, 2024
JAKARTA – Two months before leaving office in October, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo replaced on Monday two ministers connected to the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) whom he perceived as being disloyal to him and president-elect Prabowo Subianto.
Jokowi removed Yasonna Laoly of the PDI-P from his position as law and human rights minister and replaced him with Supratman Andi Agtas of Prabowo’s own party Gerindra, who previously served as chair of the House of Representatives legislation body.
The PDI-P had been Jokowi’s political vehicle for two decades, but he parted ways with the party after he tacitly endorsed his former rival-turned-ally Prabowo as his successor and let his eldest son Gibran Rakabuming Raka run as Prabowo’s running mate against his former party’s candidate Ganjar Pranowo in February’s election.
Another minister with ties to the PDI-P, Arifin Tasrif, was removed from his post as energy and mineral resources minister. He has been replaced by Bahlil Lahadalia, previously the investment minister. Unlike Yasonna, Arifin is not a member of the PDI-P but is connected to the party.
Bahlil is widely seen as a Jokowi loyalist, and he assisted in Prabowo’s presidential campaign earlier this year.
Jokowi appointed Prabowo’s campaign manager Rosan Roeslani as the new investment minister in place of Bahlil.
The President also installed Angga Raka Prabowo, another member of Prabowo’s inner circle, as the new deputy communications and information minister, adding a second deputy ministerial post to the communications ministry. Angga is also a Gerindra politician.
“I’m more than ready” to accept dismissal, Yasonna had said on Saturday.
The President was reportedly unhappy about the PDI-P’s decision in July to extend the terms of the current membership of its central executive board to 2025 and to bring in new members that had previously criticized Jokowi. A report by Tempo, citing unnamed sources within the PDI-P and Jokowi’s inner circle, said one of the President’s close associates had reprimanded Yasonna for failing to inform Jokowi about the new lineup of PDI-P executives.
The outgoing President told reporters last week that he could shake up his cabinet anytime if he felt the need to do so, saying: “It is still my prerogative”.
Just last month, Jokowi installed two members of Prabowo’s inner circle as deputy ministers of finance and agriculture, a move that experts said was aimed at ensuring a smooth transition of power but which might pose risks to the economy.