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JAKARTA – President Joko Widodo replaced six ministers on Tuesday (December 22) in a major cabinet shakeup aimed at helping Indonesia recover from the coronavirus pandemic, which has plunged the country into its first recession since the financial crisis in 1998.
Budi Gunadi Sadikin, a deputy minister of state enterprises who also leads the national economic recovery task force, has been appointed as the new health minister replacing Dr. Terawan Agus Putranto.
Sandiaga Uno, a former deputy governor of Jakarta who also ran in the presidential elections as a deputy for Joko’s rival, Prabowo Subianto, has been appointed Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, replacing Wishnutama Kusubandio.
Prabowo is the current Indonesian Defense Minister.
Mr. Joko had also replaced two ministers arrested for alleged fraud.
Sakti Wahyu Trenggono has been appointed Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries replacing Edhy Prabowo.
The Mayor of Surabaya, Tri Rismaharini, will be the new Minister of Social Affairs, replacing Juliari Batubara.
The new minister for religious affairs is Yaqut Cholil Qoumas, leader of the Ansor youth wing of Nahdlatul Ulama, the largest Muslim organization in Indonesia.
The Minister of Commerce has also been replaced by Muhammad Lutfi, current ambassador to the United States.
Joko, or Jokowi as he is better known, had no comment after appointing the new ministers. However, he wrote on Facebook: “What is past is past, to live as memories and lessons. We look to tomorrow with determination, enthusiasm and new hope.”
The inauguration of the new ministers will take place on Wednesday (December 23).
Cabinet reorganization can be done at any time, but usually about a year after cabinet installation. The ministers were evaluated and then moved to more suitable positions or replaced if they were found to be malfunctioning.
Joko has threatened a ministerial shakeup as early as June, when he berated his ministers for their lackluster handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has infected more than 650,000 people and killed about 20,000 in Indonesia.
The incoming Health Minister Budi is expected to chart a new course of actions and commitments to mitigate the economic and health impacts of Covid-19 on Southeast Asia’s largest economy of 270 million people.
The 56-year-old former banker – listed as one of The Straits Times’ 50 Asians to Watch in 2018 – is known to possess strong management skills, which can prove invaluable when dealing with issues such as health budget disbursement and distribution. of health resources. .
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