JAKARTA – President Prabowo Subianto has finally reshuffled the Red and White Cabinet, a second reshuffle, ahead of his first year in office. Along with appointing Irfan Yusuf, Head of the Hajj and Umrah Agency (BP Haji), as Minister of Hajj and Umrah, the president also dismissed five of his cabinet aides.
The five ministers removed were Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Budi Gunawan, Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani, Minister of Migrant Worker Protection Abdul Kadir Karding, Minister of Cooperatives Budi Arie Setiadi, and Minister of Youth and Sports Dito Ariotedjo. These five ministers follow Satryo Soemantri, who was removed as Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology and replaced by Brian Yuliarto in the first reshuffle.
"Based on various considerations, input, and ongoing evaluations by the President, this afternoon the President has decided to make changes to the composition of the Red and White Cabinet in several ministerial positions," explained Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi during a press conference at the State Palace on Monday, September 8, 2025.
The reason for the reshuffle put forward by Minister of State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi may seem normative. However, the public can certainly suspect that the reshuffle is related to the controversy surrounding the removal of several ministers, who were considered a "burden" to the Prabowo administration. At least, this is what Ahmad Muzani once expressed. "If you can't provide a solution, at least don't create controversy. Ministers like these are what are considered a "burden" in the cabinet," he said some time ago.
According to Iwan Setiawan, the executive director of IPR, Ahmad Muzani's statement was not just ordinary criticism, but rather a "strong code" for the president's aides. The name Budi Arie Setiadi, for example, always comes up whenever the public discusses online gambling cases or scandals when the General Chair of Projo served as Minister of Communication and Information.
In 2023, Dito Ariotedjo's name was implicated in the alleged corruption case surrounding the Ministry of Communication and Information's (Kominfo) 4G BTS project, worth Rp 8 trillion. The Golkar Party politician was summoned by the Attorney General's Office as a witness after one of the defendants alleged that Rp 27 billion in funds was linked to his name. Sri Mulyani, while denying ever shocking the public with her statement that teachers' salaries were a burden on the state, was also a victim of looting some time ago because she was considered to have frequently issued fiscal policies that disfavored the common people.
Budi Gunawan's name also came under scrutiny as the August demonstrations heated up. The former Head of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) never appeared in public to provide information. This was certainly different from the riots of May 21-22, 2019, when, following the announcement of the election results, Wiranto (then Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs) appeared to explain the government's steps, accompanied by the TNI Commander and the National Police Chief. He emphasized that the government was dealing with the situation with civilian coordination that underpinned security forces. A similar situation occurred in 2020, when the wave of Omnibus Law protests spread.
Mahfud MD (the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs at the time) led a press conference. He reiterated the government's stance on anarchic acts, while reminding the importance of maintaining democratic space. Mahfud returned to public view when the Kanjuruhan Tragedy killed hundreds of football fans in 2022. He led an emergency meeting, formed an Independent Joint Fact-Finding Team, and reported the results of the investigation directly to the President. A year earlier, in 2024, when a New Zealand pilot was taken hostage in Papua, Hadi Tjahjanto, the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, led a press conference. He attended alongside the TNI Commander and the National Police Chief, demonstrating cross-agency coordination.
Meanwhile, Abdul Kadir Karding shocked the public after encouraging people to work abroad to reduce unemployment. One of Prabowo and Gibran's campaign promises was to create at least 19 million jobs. Most recently, Karding drew attention after playing cards with Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni and illegal logging suspect Azis Wellang.
'Cleaning Up' Jokowi Loyalists
Iwan acknowledged that, although reshuffling is the president's prerogative, this cabinet reshuffle was quite surprising because it came without any prior public announcements or rumors. "If we look at the composition of today's cabinet reshuffle, several ministers are indeed ministers who have often been urged by the public to be replaced," he said on Monday, September 8, 2025.
Iwan mentioned that Finance Minister Sri Mulyani, who has been the subject of much public pressure to be replaced, is due to her perceived poor performance. "State tax revenues have failed to reach targets, and there's also a lack of creativity in maximizing state revenues, which is one of the causes of the recent violent demonstrations at the House of Representatives (DPR). Furthermore, Sri Mulyani has reportedly asked President Prabowo to resign three times," he added.
Budi Arie has often faced pressure to resign or be replaced, for example, due to his frequent involvement in online gambling cases while serving as Minister of Communication and Information. "I've often argued that Budi Arie should be replaced by the president, as he could become a source of problems. Moreover, the Cooperatives Minister is directly responsible for managing the Red and White Cooperative, which will manage hundreds of trillions of rupiah in state funds. The public has questioned Budi Arie's integrity," Iwan stated.
He also criticized Abdul Karding for frequently making blunders. For example, his controversial statement in response to the hashtag "run away first," and his most recent suggestion was playing dominoes with a former illegal logging suspect. "His performance hasn't been very good either. Similarly, Budi Gunawan never appears in the forefront handling security during demonstrations; instead, Defense Minister Syafrie Syamsudin appears," he continued.
According to Iwan, with this second cabinet reshuffle, President Prabowo appears to want to focus and prioritize economic issues, particularly those related to state revenue. Then there are political and security issues, particularly following the demonstrations demanding the dissolution of the Indonesian House of Representatives.
Furthermore, he also observed that the second cabinet reshuffle illustrated the gradual removal of ministers affiliated with former President Joko Widodo. "Is it related to the Solo Gang issue? Only President Prabowo himself can confirm that. However, the public is starting to understand Prabowo's future political direction and strategy," Iwan said.
A similar opinion was expressed by the executive director of Trust Indonesia, Ahmad Fadhli, who believed that President Prabowo should have carried out a cabinet reshuffle because he has the authority to replace ministers whose performance was deemed low and unprofessional. "President Prabowo only recently had the chance to reshuffle because of numerous conflicts of interest, particularly regarding the 'triangular political interest' of the Solo Gang, the Hambalang Gang, and the Teuku Umar Gang," he said.
He believes the second cabinet reshuffle merely shifted the weight of the Hambalang Gang, which previously weighed more heavily on the Solo Gang, and will then weigh more heavily on the Teuku Umar Gang after the reshuffle. However, Fadhli observed that this reshuffle was more of a safety measure, as several ministers whose performance was below average were not replaced. "For example, Raja Juli, Natalius Pigai, Bahlil, and the National Police Chief, who have consistently made blunders for the government," he added.
However, the notion that the cabinet reshuffle was intended to "clean out" Jokowi's supporters was dismissed by State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi. "Nothing, no one. Because those selected as ministers are the nation's best sons," he concluded.
The State Secretary emphasized that there is no such thing as individual representation representing a particular figure in the Red and White Cabinet. President Prabowo will select the nation's best sons and daughters to fill positions in the Red and White Cabinet.
Public Pressure and Easing the Government's Burden
Meanwhile, Trias Politika political observer Agung Baskoro explained that there are at least three main reasons that presidents typically use to initiate reshuffles. First, political momentum, and second, technocratic considerations related to evaluating ministers' performance. "And this can also be seen as him thoroughly evaluating the ministers in his cabinet. Are they truly performing, no longer making slips of the tongue, for example, causing unrest, and are none of them creating unnecessary commotion within their ministries?" he said.
Meanwhile, the third reason is legal factors, where a reshuffle can also occur if a minister is involved in a legal case, automatically creating the need for a replacement. However, if these three factors have not yet surfaced, public pressure could be an additional trigger for a reshuffle.
"The public's growing pressure calls for a reshuffle. We've seen several ministers create unrest and then deliver suboptimal performance. If public pressure intensifies, the government will be more sensitive and responsive in responding to these demands," Agung emphasized.
IPO Executive Director Dedi Kurnia Syah supports President Prabowo Subianto's decision to clean up the Red and White Cabinet, particularly ministers who have not made significant contributions to the government. Prabowo believes the cabinet reshuffle is necessary to rid the cabinet of ministers who are incapable of performing well and becoming a burden on the government.
"Purging the cabinet of figures with no function will also ease the burden on the state and increase public trust. The president should also remove ministers still overshadowed by the previous administration," he concluded.
PPI Executive Director Adi Prayitno added that the second cabinet reshuffle is a domino effect of public pressure and the need to improve ministerial performance. He cited the example of Abdul Kadir Karding's removal as a result of public scrutiny after he played dominoes with Raja Juli Antoni.
Furthermore, prior to the controversy surrounding his domino game with Azis Wellang, Karding frequently made statements that garnered public attention, such as "just run away." "The domino effect of public pressure, for example, is the latest one. If we look at Karding, there's always a photo circulating of him playing dominoes with a certain party who has a history of certain issues. Previously, Karding also made a fairly public statement about working abroad, saying "just run away" was an effort to reduce unemployment. That also caused chaos, and from there, a domino effect arose, prompting calls for his replacement," he said.
"Although we never know the real reason, specifically the key and primary reason for the government's reshuffle, perhaps there's something that wasn't conveyed, but the public is guessing," Adi continued.
Suryo Hartoko, a political observer from Waskita Dharma University in Malang, believes the contrasting fates of Karding and Raja Juli indicate that President Prabowo does not want to appear too direct in his efforts to break free from the influence of the previous administration. Moreover, in both cases, Karding explicitly defended Raja Juli, asserting that Raja Juli attended the KKSS Command Post at his invitation.
"The second cabinet reshuffle could undeniably indicate President Prabowo's gradual move to break away from the influence of the previous administration. Perhaps this will be done gradually. Whether it will result in a complete exit from the cabinet or whether this is just a gradual strategy, we don't know for sure. Whether it's a purge or another strategy, we're discussing politics. Anything can happen," he concluded.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
