Cabinet to be reshuffle in October, Gerindra executive

Antara News, Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is to reshuffle his cabinet in October this year, a senior Greater Indonesia (Gerindra) Party official said here Tuesday.

"Yes, it`s true. I have heard there will be a cabinet reshuffle this year," Ahmad Muzani, Gerindra Party secretary general, told reporters in Jakarta.

He said, in October 2010, the present cabinet would be exactly one year old, and the President would then be able to review the peformance of his assistants, reconsider their capacity and competence and decide whether or not to keep them.

Muzani said he had received the information on an impending reshuffle from a politician in the government coalition.

The performance of the second United Indonesia cabinet, according to Muzani, was worse than the previous cabinet`s. There was little, if any, coordination among the different ministries.

"This cabinet has not performed maximally in all sectors. The previous cabinet was better although the political situation now has remained stable," Muzani said.

Citing an example, he said there was no coordination between the ministry of defense and the ministry of maritime affairs and fisheries when the Bintan border incident happened last August 13.

"The problem is there is little or no coordination. This was also evident when Indonesian fisheries officers arrested seven Malaysian fishermen who were poaching in Indonesian waters. I think, we have to rediscuss it all," the Gerindra executive said.

In the economic field, the real sector had until now remained in the doldrums and become weak.

"The main thing in the economic field is the real sector. If this sector is not moved, the entire economy is constrained and the people`s purchasing power will drop," he said.

Asked which of the cabinet ministers deserved to be replaced, Muzani did not give a

direct reply. "I do not know about this, which cabinet members need to be replaced," he said.

Previously, Ahmad Mubarok, a member of the executive board of the ruling Democrat Party, had told the press the President would reshuffle his cabinet this year.