Jokowi Admits He Doesn't Interfere In The Establishment Of Prabowo's Cabinet

President Joko Widodo gave a statement to reporters in Depok, West Java, Tuesday (7/5/2024). (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) admitted that he did not provide input regarding the formation of the cabinet structure of the President and Elected Vice President Prabowo Subianto - Gibran Rakabuming Raka.

"Oh nothing, nothing," said Jokowi when asked by reporters about input for the next government, on the sidelines of his activities attending the inauguration of the Indonesia Digital Test House in Depok, West Java, quoted by ANTARA, Tuesday, May 7.

He also evaded when asked for a response regarding the discourse on adding the ministerial nomenclature to 40 in the Prabowo-Gibran government.

"(About) the upcoming cabinet, please ask the elected president," said Jokowi.

Previously, the Deputy General Chairperson (Waketum) of the Gerindra Party, Habiburokhman, said that Jokowi was the person who Prabowo was most asked for opinions regarding the filling of the government cabinet in 2024-2029.

Habiburokhman said that Prabowo also made President Jokowi his mentor to learn about leadership, work hard, and make decisions at a critical time.

However, he denied that this was a form of chaos or interference between President Jokowi in filling ministerial seats in the government cabinet in 2024-2029.

"Not strange. Of course, Pak Prabowo will ask for an opinion," he said.

Furthermore, he considered the issue of adding the ministerial nomenclature to 40 in the upcoming government as something good.

"If you really want to involve a lot of people, I don't think there is a problem either. In fact, the more, the better for me personally," said Habiburokhman at the Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Monday.

Because, he said, Indonesia is a big country, so it requires a lot of energy in the government to work.

"If you are fat in the physical context of one person per person, it's not healthy, but in the context of a large number of countries it means big. Our country is a big country. Our challenges are big, our targets are big. It's natural that we need to gather a lot of people, gather in government, so it's big," he said.

He also dismissed the assessment of the development of the number of ministries as an effort to accommodate political interests.