September 20, 2024
JAKARTA – Critics have slammed a law passed on Thursday that would allow president-elect Prabowo Subianto to appoint allies, including outgoing President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, as his advisors once he takes office next month.
The House of Representatives passed on Thursday a revision to a law regulating the Presidential Advisory Board (Wantimpres), which advises the sitting president on matters of daily administration.
The amendment gives the board an equal standing with other state institutions by making the status entirely independent of the executive branch. The new law also removes a limit of nine on the number of council members and instead allows it to be determined by a sitting president “in accordance with his needs”.
“The role of the Wantimpres is crucial. It is a source of independent counsel on strategic issues,” said Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Minister Abdullah Azwar Anas, who represented the government in the House plenary session to pass the bill on Thursday.
“Therefore the changes are expected to strengthen the position of the board.”
The timing of the revision, which was initiated by the House Legislation Body (Baleg) and pushed through only months before Jokowi leaves office, has fueled speculation that he is seeking to get a spot on the council.
Prior to the amendment being proposed in the House, Prabowo’s camp floated a plan to establish a so-called president’s club comprising the country’s sitting and living former presidents as a forum for them to exchange views and ideas on strategic national issues.
Jokowi has said he will return to his hometown of Surakarta in Central Java and become “an ordinary citizen” after leaving office, but Gerindra Party politician Maruarar Sirait, who is known for his loyalty to Jokowi, said the outgoing President might sit on the board due to his close ties with Prabowo.
Read also: Prabowo consolidates power as presidency looms
Another of Jokowi’s staunch supporters, Communications and Information Minister Budi Arie Setiadi, has also said the outgoing President was “fit for a job” on the council and that he was too young to retire from politics.
Asked about whether Prabowo would include Jokowi in the Wantimpres, Gerindra executive Sufmi Dasco Ahmad gave a noncommittal answer last week on the grounds that “nothing has been decided so far”.
Political analyst Ujang Komarudin said the revision would allow Prabowo to accommodate his allies, particularly those supporting him in February’s presidential election, such as Jokowi or other names in his military, political and business circles.
“With the board now having the same privilege as other state institutions, such as facilities and state funding, it is reasonable that Prabowo would give the strategic spots to former presidents, senior businessmen or former generals,” Ujang said on Thursday.
Ujang, however, said it remained to be seen how much influence Prabowo would allow Jokowi to have after he leaves office, particularly amid signs of a rift between the incoming and outgoing leaders last month following a popular backlash against attempts to have Jokowi’s youngest son Kaesang Pangarep run for public office despite his being not eligible on age grounds.
Pointing to a new provision in the law that says the chairman’s position will rotate between board members, Ujang noted that Prabowo might still seek to contain Jokowi’s influence in his incoming administration.
“The provision could be a way for Prabowo to prevent former presidents or anyone sitting on the board from becoming too dominant, or so influential that they could pose problems for the incoming government,” Ujang said.
Read also: House to pass revisions to laws on Wantimpres, cabinet makeup this week
Constitutional law expert Feri Amsari dismissed the new law as a way for Prabowo to create more space to reward his allies.
“There is no urgency to include so many figures in the Wantimpres because the nature of its job is merely to give the president advice, which is not mandatory for the president to follow,” Feri said.
Also on Thursday, the House removed a legal limit of 34 on the number of ministries in a revision to the 2008 Ministry Law, another piece of legislation rushed through the legislature before Prabowo becomes president on Oct. 20. Critics say this new law is also aimed at unduly rewarding those who helped Prabowo and his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka, Jokowi’s eldest son, win the election.
Deputy chair of the Baleg Achmad Baidowi played down the concerns, saying the two new laws were simply “intended to give more space to the elected president to determine the structure of his cabinet, including organs within the palace, such as Wantimpres”.