Asked About The Reshuffle, Moeldoko: There Is Only One Answer, The President Knows

Head of Presidential Staff Office Moeldoko. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The discourse of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to shake up or reshuffle his cabinet continues to strengthen. However, Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko admits that no one knows when and who the ministers will be replaced.

The former TNI commander admitted that only the former Governor of DKI Jakarta knew when the reshuffle was and which ministers would be replaced

"The only one who knows is the President. The answer is only one, only the President knows about the reshuffle, period," Moeldoko told reporters during his visit to the Depok area, West Java, Tuesday, April 20.

He was reluctant to comment further on the reshuffle and chose to remain silent about this discourse. "Yes, I have," he said.

Previously, the Special Staff of President Angkie Yudistia said the cabinet reshuffle was entirely President Joko Widodo's prerogative.

Angkie fully supports any decision by the Head of State regarding the selection of the ranks of ministers in the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet. "Whatever steps are from the beginning to the end, the President speaks, and we fully support the prerogative of the President," said Angkie as quoted by Antara, Friday, April 16.

Angkie emphasized that no one could interfere if there was a change in the ranks of the presidential assistants in the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet.

"Whatever issue is in full circulation is the prerogative of the president. We cannot interfere in such matters, ”said the Special Staff to the President for Social Affairs.

The discourse to reshuffle the cabinet surfaced after at the end of last week the DPR plenary session, Friday, April 9, approved the formation of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology, as well as the Ministry of Investment.

It's just that, the back of this issue is getting wider not only in the two ministries. Six ministerial positions appear in the public sphere including top positions at the Ministry of Education and Culture-Research and Technology and the Ministry of Investment. However, the question of the names being considered for replacement is still vague.

Regarding the new ministerial candidate, so far there have been two people who have publicly acknowledged being summoned by the Palace amid the reshuffle issue, namely members of the NasDem faction, Rapsel Ali and young NU figure Witjaksono. Both are reportedly candidates for the Minister of Investment.

In addition, as is well known, the PKB elite Luqman Hakim, the government coalition party, mentioned the minister to be reshuffled with the initials M. There were at least four cabinet members whose initials were M, namely Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud Md, Coordinating Minister for PMK Muhadjir Effendy, Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi and Chief of Staff to the President (KSP) Moeldoko.

Then the PAN speculation entered the coalition. This speculation is in line with the initial information of the cabinet members who will be reshuffled. PAN is said to be filling the post of the Coordinating Minister for PMK or the Minister of Transportation (Menhub). The Coordinating Minister for PMK is now Muhadjir Effendy, while the Minister for Transportation is held by Budi Karya Sumadi.