FILE PHOTO: Airlangga Hartarto, Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs at his office in Jakarta, Indonesia, June 8, 2023. He is among those who may be removed from the Cabinet. - Reuters
JAKARTA: President Prabowo Subianto is considering replacing some ministers in his Cabinet in the coming months due to their unsatisfactory performance and amid political pressure from his coalition partners. This comes as Indonesia is set to record lower-than-expected economic growth for the first three months of 2025.
Three senior government officials told The Straits Times that Prabowo’s inner circle has suggested he remove “weak elements” in his six-month-old administration in order to accelerate fulfilling his campaign promises.
The move comes amid concerns over a weakening economy and softer consumer spending, given the slew of populist programmes that require massive funding and declining tax revenues, which have driven the rupiah to its weakest level against the US dollar since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and sent Indonesian stocks tumbling to levels not seen in over a decade.
Prabowo’s pledges include an ambitious target for the country to post annual economic growth of eight per cent by the time his term ends in 2029. ST understands that internal government growth forecasts for the first quarter of 2025 stand much lower, at between 4.5 per cent and 4.9 per cent. The economy expanded by 5.11 per cent year on year in the first three months of 2024.
Indonesia’s annual growth rate has generally averaged around five per cent over the last ten years.
Indonesia’s national statistics agency will officially announce the first-quarter economic growth figure in the first week of May.
The three government officials, who are not authorised to speak to the media, said Airlangga Hartarto, the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, is among those who may be removed from the Cabinet.
“There hasn’t been good teamwork between Airlangga and the ministers he is overseeing,” one source told ST.
Another source said that Airlangga would likely be given a key role in the diplomatic arena.
Indonesia has seven coordinating ministers – the most senior posts in the Cabinet – and 41 ministers who closely work with their corresponding coordinating ministers. There are also five minister-level heads of agency, including the Attorney-General, Cabinet secretary and head of the Presidential Communication Office.
There are seven ministers working under Airlangga, including Trade Minister Budi Santoso, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia and Investment Minister Rosan Roeslani.
The current Cabinet was installed a day after Prabowo’s inauguration in October, with its members picked from allies to prioritise political stability. More technocrats are needed, observers have said.
Dr Kunto Adi Wibowo, a political communications expert at the Padjadjaran University in West Java, told ST: “A Cabinet reshuffle is entirely the President’s prerogative.”
“Prabowo, we know, has not been happy especially with how some of his subordinates communicate their programmes to the public”, hence making voters feel the government is not doing its job, he explained.
Among those Kunto perceives as having performed poorly besides Airlangga are Village Development Minister Yandri Susanto and Cooperative Affairs Minister Budi Arie Setiadi.
While analysts believe that both economic and political reasons hold sway in the imminent Cabinet reshuffle, Kunto is leaning more towards politics as a bigger factor.
Kunto believes there is additional pressure for a reshuffle from the political elites in the ruling Gerindra party founded by Prabowo, who felt they deserved a ministerial post but were not given Cabinet roles in the new administration.
“For Airlangga, if he leaves (his position), it is more because of politics rather than work performance,” he surmised.
Airlangga’s political clout has been weakening since he stepped down in August 2024 from the chairman‘s post of influential political party Golkar – one of seven major political parties that backs Prabowo’s Gerindra party-led ruling coalition – after a months-long party leadership tussle.
Most of Indonesia’s coordinating ministers are either chairmen of political parties or persons with significant political influence, such as Infrastructure Coordinating Minister Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, who is also chairman of the Democratic Party, and Food Coordinating Minister Zulkifli Hasan, also the chairman of National Mandate Party. Both parties are part of the ruling coalition and backed Prabowo’s presidential ticket in 2024.
Coordinating Minister for People’s Development and Culture Pratikno, who goes by one name, is the closest aide to former president Joko Widodo, who remains influential over Prabowo.
ST understands that a former finance minister and a former trade minister from the previous administrations are among the candidates strongly tipped to replace Airlangga.
“The public would support a Cabinet reshuffle, especially one that affects those who underperformed… and those whose views are not in line with the President’s,” said Adi Prayitno, the executive director of Jakarta-based think-tank the Indonesian Political Parameter.
Neither Hasan Nasbi, head of the Presidential Communications Office, nor Haryo Limanseto, the spokesman for the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, responded to ST’s queries on the matter. - The Straits Times/ANN
