JAKARTA: An official under fire for demanding 300 times the budget earmarked for his new ministry. Invitations to a family funeral marked with official government letterheads.
The administration of Indonesia’s new president Prabowo Subianto may only be a few days old but his Cabinet has already been dogged by controversies.
Just a day after Mr Prabowo was sworn in on Oct 20, his newly appointed Human Rights Minister, Mr Natalius Pigai, immediately drew widespread criticism after he complained on Oct 21 that his new office would only receive an annual budget of 64 billion rupiah (US$4 million).
Mr Natalius argued that a budget of 20 trillion rupiah was more fitting for the newly formed ministry.
“Of the 20 trillion rupiah (needed), only 64 billion (is provided). The dream, vision and wishes of the Indonesian president will not be fulfilled,” said the minister, as quoted by BBC Indonesia.
Several politicians lambasted the statement, saying that Mr Natalius should have discussed this with Mr Prabowo when he took on the job instead of airing his displeasure publicly.
“This request should have been discussed internally within the administration first,” Mr Andreas Hugo Pareira, member of parliament from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said in a statement on Oct 24.
“Every significant (budget) increase of one ministry will affect the budget for other ministries or sectors which also require huge sums of money like education, health and infrastructure.”
PDI-P is not part of the ruling coalition and Mr Prabowo has not responded to the incident.
On Oct 22, Mr Yandri Susanto, the minister of villages and development of disadvantaged regions, came under fire for sending out invitations for his mother’s death anniversary using his new office’s letterhead and stamp, which were designated for official matters.
Mr Yandri said he was too busy to notice that his staffers had sent out the invitations using the letterhead.
“I am still new to being a minister. I am still learning,” the minister said on Oct 23, as quoted by Bisnis Indonesia news portal.
So much drama in such a short period of time comes as no surprise to analysts, given the diverse professional backgrounds, political associations and bureaucratic experiences of Prabowo’s “red and white” Cabinet.
“They come from different backgrounds and represent different interests. These controversies emerged as a consequence of Mr Prabowo trying to accommodate his supporters,” Mr Hendri Satrio, a political analyst from Jakarta’s Paramadina University, told CNA.
With a total of 116 positions: 48 ministers, 56 vice-ministers, five agency chiefs and seven special envoys, Mr Prabowo’s Cabinet is the largest the country has seen in six decades.
In contrast, his predecessor Mr Joko “Jokowi” Widodo only had 34 ministers and 17 vice-ministers.
The new president decided to spin off several ministries such as the ministry of education and culture which was split into three different institutions: The ministry of basic education, the ministry of higher education, science and technology; and the ministry of culture.
Mr Prabowo argued that adding new Cabinet positions was needed so that each minister would focus on a specific role and thus boost their performance.
But analysts said political horse-trading could be the real reason behind the decision.
Only around 20 of Mr Prabowo’s Cabinet positions are filled by academics and technocrats. The rest are occupied by politicians from his 11-party coalition, businessmen who supported his campaign and Mr Prabowo’s former subordinates in the military and defence ministry.
Mr Hendri of Paramadina University said a Cabinet so large and diverse is prone to internal conflicts and rifts, reducing the government’s effectiveness in doing its job.
“Mr Prabowo needs to regularly review his Cabinet and he needs to take firm actions against underperforming ministers if he wants his key programmes to be successful,” he said.
“CHUNKY” CABINET
Mr Prabowo won the presidential election in February with the support of nine political parties.
Since then, he has been able to woo two other parties: The National Awakening Party and the Prosperous Justice Party, having met leaders of both parties separately in August to discuss the possibility of them joining the Cabinet, among other things.
“Prabowo wants political stability so even those with no seats (in parliament) are accommodated in his government,” Mr Arya Fernandes of Jakarta-based think-tank Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said at a discussion on Oct 25.
