Jokowi's Cabinet Reshuffle History: Merger Of Two Ministries Becomes A Burden

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has reshuffled his cabinet this afternoon. There have been a number of changes in the body of government. Among other things, the merging of the Minister of Education and Culture with the Ministry of Research and Technology / Head of the National Research and Innovation Agency and the emergence of the Ministry of Investment. This is Jokowi's second refshuffle in his second term as president. So how effective is it?

Today Jokowi inaugurated two ministers. First, Nadiem Makarim as Minister of Education, Culture-Research and Technology and Bahlil Lahadalia who previously served as Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) was appointed as Minister of Investment.

In addition to inaugurating the two men, Jokowi also installed the Head of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), namely Laksana Tri Handoko. This inauguration took place after Bahlil and Nadiem read their oaths of office.

The inauguration was held at around 15.00 WIB this afternoon. Judging from the Presidential Secretariat YouTube broadcast, this implementation still applies strict health protocols.

This is the second time Jokowi has reshuffled the Forward Indonesia Cabinet. Previously, in December 2020, Jokowi had appointed six new ministers:

1. Minister of Social Affairs Tri Rismaharini replaces Juliari Batubara

2. Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno replaces Wishnutama

3. Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin replaces Terawan Agus Putranto

4. Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono replaces Edhy Prabowo

5. Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi replaces Agus Suparmanto.

6. Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas replaces Fachrul Razi

President Jokowi's reshuffle is nothing new. In the first period of his administration when he was in a duet with Jusuf Kalla, Jokowi several times replaced his aides.

The reasons for the reshuffle also vary, starting from improving government management, strengthening synergies and coordination across ministries, to meeting demands so that each ministry can work more quickly and effectively. Here's the history:

On 12 August 2015, President Jokowi overhauled the Working Cabinet which he formed on 27 October 2014. This cabinet reshuffle volume I replaced five ministers, including:

1. Presidential Chief of Staff Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan replaces Menko Polhukam Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno.

2. Former Governor of Bank Indonesia Darmin Nasution served as Coordinating Minister for the Economy replacing Sofyan Djalil.

3. Former Coordinating Minister for the Economy during the era of President Abdurrahman Wahid, Rizal Ramli, became Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs replacing Indroyono Soesilo.

4. Thomas Lembong, served as Minister of Trade replacing Rachmat Gobel.

5. PDI-P politician Pramono Anung replaces Andi Widjajanto as Cabinet Secretary.

6. Sofyan Djalil replaces Minister of National Development Planning / Head of Bappenas Andrinof Chaniago.

Then the second, Jokowi reshuffled the Working Cabinet on July 27, 2016. The Golkar Party and the National Mandate Party which switched to support President Jokowi got ministerial positions in this reshuffle.

1. Minister of Transportation Ignasius Jonan was removed and replaced by Budi Karya Sumadi.

2. The Minister of National Development Planning or Head of the National Development Planning Agency Sofyan Djalil was replaced by Bambang Brodjonegoro who previously served as Minister of Finance.

3. Sri Mulyani Indrawati entered the cabinet as Minister of Finance.

4. Sofyan Djalil replaces Ferry Mursidan Baldan as Minister of Agrarian and Spatial Planning.

5. The Minister of Industry changed from Saleh Husin to a Golkar Party cadre, Airlangga Hartarto.

6. Minister of Education and Culture Minister of Education and Culture previously held by Anies Baswedan was replaced by Prof. Muhajir.

7. The Minister for Villages and Disadvantaged Areas and Transmigration was entrusted to Eko Putro Sanjojo to replace Marwan Jafar.

8. PAN politician Asman Abnur replaces Yuddy Chrisnadi as Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment, Reform and Bureaucracy.

9. Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Human Rights Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Binsar Panjaitan was shifted to become Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs replacing Rizal Ramli.

10. Wiranto fills the post of Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs left by Luhut B Panjaitan.

11. Enggartiasto Lukita was given the mandate as Minister of Trade to replace Thomas Lembong.

12. Thomas Lembong has a new position as Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) replacing Franky Sibarani.

13. Franky Sibarani was assigned as Deputy Minister of Industry.

14. Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sudirman Said was replaced by Archandra Tahar. Archandra has held this position for less than a month. Luhut Panjaitan became the acting Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources until the appointment of Ignatius Jonan on October 14, 2016.

Two years later, in early January 2018 Jokowi resumed his cabinet reshuffle. The minister's replacement, among others.

1. Minister of Social Affairs Khofifah Indar Parawansa resigns from the cabinet after deciding to run in the election for the governor of East Java. Golkar Party Secretary General Idrus Marham was appointed to replace Khofifah.

2. Former TNI Commander, Moeldoko replaces Teten Masduki as Presidential Chief of Staff. Teten was asked to become Coordinator of the President's Special Staff.

Still in the same year, on August 15 to be precise, the cabinet reshuffle occurred again. PAN cadre in the cabinet, Asman Abnur resigned from his post, Minister of Administrative Reform and Bureaucratic Reform.

After a few days, the Corruption Eradication Commission named Social Minister Idrus Marham as a suspect in the Riau-1 PLTU corruption case. Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita was appointed to replace his colleague in the Golkar Party.

Reshuffling of ministerial positions or ministerial level officials has occurred repeatedly in President Jokowi's administration. The question is, is the cabinet reshuffle effective in achieving the president's vision and mission, or is it even slowing down?

Political observer from Al-Azhar University Indonesia, Ujang Komaruddin, said whether the cabinet reshuffle will be effective or not depends on the minister chosen. Ujang said it took time to answer these questions.

"If it is not effective, why is there a limited reshuffle? We'll see their work in the future," said Ujang to VOI.

Nevertheless, there is one point that Ujang highlighted, namely regarding the merging of the Ministry of Education, Culture and the Ministry of Research and Technology. According to him, this indeed made Nadiem's burden even heavier.

"(It becomes hard) because it combines the two ministries. Like it or not, because it has been paid and paid by state money, it should work well," he concluded.