UNS — The President of the Republic of Indonesia (RI) Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is reported to conduct a reshuffle for his Kabinet Indonesia Maju jilid II. This news spread after the House of Representatives (DPR) RI agreed to merge the Ministry of Research and Technology (Kemenristek) to the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemdikbud) and the formation of the Ministry of Investment.
All ministers who were free from the first reshuffle on December 2020 and have low performance will be replaced and inaugurated together with the Ministers who will lead the Kemdikbud-Kemenristek and Minister of Investment. Responding to President Jokowi’s plan, the expert of Constitutional Law (HTN) Faculty of Law (FH) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta, Dr. Agus Riwanto, stated that reshuffle aims to accelerate the government’s program.
“It is likely that reshuffle will be conducted to accelerate Jokowi governmental program that has not been implemented according to Jokowi’s vision and mission in his 2019 Campaign,” Dr. Agus Riwanto said to uns.ac.id, Monday (19/4/2021).
He said that President Jokowi would definitely reshuffle Menristek’s position. The Minister of Investment and Chief of National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) position, Dr. Agus Riwanto mentioned, might be filled by technocrat politician or politician technocrat from the government coalition. He also said several posts in the ministerial which might be replaced due to their less satisfactory performance, such as Minister of Employment (Menaker), Minister of Youth and Sports (Menpora), Minister of Agriculture (Mentan), and Mendikbud.
“Menaker because there is no innovative and satisfactory employment program. Menpora because of its limited efforts in supporting national sports achievements. Mentan because of its non-populist agricultural program. And, Mendikbud because of its education program and policies amid the pandemic which tends to be controversial,” Dr. Agus Riwanto explained.
Concerning the names Hanif Dhakiri, Wishnutama, Najwa Shihab, and Raffi Ahmad, who are rumored to be the new ministers, Dr. Agus Riwanto said that they have the opportunity as long as they have supports from the coalition parties and strong organizations. “Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, for example,” he added.
Besides the names, the HTN expert also discussed the probability of a certain party getting a minister position. However, the party seems to enjoy its place outside the coalition, even though from the start, it has moved closer to Jokowi’s coalition. “In this reshuffle, it’s still uncertain if they will get minister position. If they joined Jokowi now, their hope of nominating their own presidential candidate in the 2024 election would vanish,” he concluded. Humas UNS
Reporter: Yefta Christopherus AS
Editor: Dwi Hastuti
