Jokowi's Political Investment In Cabinet Reshuffle At The End Of His Working Period

President Joko Widodo (right) shook hands with Menkumham Supratman Andi Agtas after the inauguration at the State Palace, Jakarta, Monday (19/8/2024). (ANTARA/Sigid Kurniawan/rwa.)

JAKARTA Two months before his leadership ended, President Joko Widodo inaugurated a number of new ministers. As before, this decision was thick with political nuances.

President Jokowi officially inaugurated three ministers and one new deputy minister in a reshuffler of the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet at the State Palace, Jakarta, Monday (19/8/2024). This cabinet reshuffle was actually not too surprising, because rumors of changing ministers had been heard before the celebration of the 79th Independence of the Republic of Indonesia. Jokowi is even said to be inaugurating a new minister in the archipelago.

The change of minister is indeed the prerogative of the president, but what attracted attention, Jokowi removed two ministers from the PDI-P (PDIP) and inaugurated people known as Prabowo Subianto from the Gerindra Party.

Jokowi further emphasized his strained relationship with PDIP. In addition, Executive Director of Indonesia Political Opinion (IPO) Dedi Kurnia Syah said that the reshufflekabinet was again carried out as preparation for political consolidation in the 2029 General Election and Presidential Election.

Two ministers from the PDIP, namely Yasonna Laoly and Arifin Tasrif, were removed from their positions as Minister of Law and Human Rights (Menkumham) and Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM). Both were replaced by Supratman Andi Agtas and Bahlil Lahadalia.

Supratman is a Gerindra Party politician, while Bahlil is known as one of Jokowi's right-hand men recently. The former chairman of the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (HIPMI) is also expected to even fill the position of General Chair of Golkar later.

Another minister who was inaugurated by Jokowi earlier this week was Rosan Roeslani. He replaced Bahlil to fill the position of Minister of Investment/Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM). Apart from being an entrepreneur, Roslan is the Chair of the Prabowo-Gibran Campaign Team in the 2024 General Election.

In addition, Jokowi added a seat for the position of deputy minister of communication and informatics. Meanwhile, the position of deputy minister of communication and informatics was handed over to another Gerindra politician, Angga Raka Prabowo. During the 2024 presidential election campaign, Angga was the Director of Media Prabowo-Gibran.

Seeing the rows of inaugurated names, it is not surprising that the public conclude that this is not just an ordinary overhaul. Jokowi is considered to have taken advantage of his prerogative to accelerate his political ambitions.

Firman Noor from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) said that Jokowi seems to want to invest in political services or investments for Prabowo, who will take office in October.

This also explains why most of the ministers and deputy ministers who were inaugurated were close people to Prabowo from the Gerindra Party. Thus, Firman did not see that this reshuffle was not based solely on professionalism, but was thicker with political nuances.

"There are interests related to power there, related to transition, continuation of power. The parameters are not clear why someone was removed," said Firman.

"Indeed, if there is an urgent problem, it looks like a big mistake, so suddenly it is removed. But some of the ministers don't stand out for their mistakes, so once again, this is a political interest," he added.

With this reshuffler, the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet is increasingly dominated by people close to Prabowo. As a comparison, before the 2024 presidential election, the only minister in Jokowi's cabinet who came from the Gerindra Party was Prabowo.

Jokowi then began to give strategic positions to those close to Prabowo and Gerindra. In July 2024, for example, two Gerindra politicians, namely Thomas Djiwandono and Sudaryono, were considered deputy finance ministers and deputy minister of agriculture.

Furthermore, Firman suspects that Jokowi has a political motive to secure the situation after he no longer serves as president. You could say, this is a kind of political investment from Jokowi for the next government.

"Because what Jokowi seems to be worried about is what if he is left behind by Prabowo," said Firman.

Jokowi wants to invest in political services or investments for the next government. Whether this will be calculated or not [by Prabowo], that's a matter of later. But after all, the position of minister is something, if you get it, of course it will not be forgotten just like that," he said.

Meanwhile, IPO Executive Director Dedi Kurnia Syah assessed that there was actually no urgency for Jokowi to reshuffle the cabinet at the end of his leadership. He considers this to be a consolidation of his strength and political interests ahead of the transfer of power to Prabowo.

"This reshuffle is more of a political need, a momentum for consolidation even for the coalition of political parties and power until 2029," said Dedi.

"This consolidation urgency is important. Partners of power can be directed to build the same Pilkada axis, so that 2029 powers are ready to face the presidential election for a similar victory," he added.