The Consequences of Prabowo's Bloated Cabinet

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The positions of a number of ministers are uncertain after the emergence of reports of the Prabowo-Jokowi ‘twin suns.’ This is a result of the formation of a cabinet based on returning favors.

THE formation of a cabinet based on performance during the era of President Prabowo Subianto has been nothing more than empty words since the outset. Instead of choosing people with good achievements and competence, he built a grand coalition based on returning political favors to oligarchs, politicians, and the former president who brought about his victory. It is this political horse-trading that has led to the shambolic state of Prabowo’s cabinet today.

Appointed based on political favors provided to Prabowo, the members of the cabinet could lose their jobs at any time and for any reason. These include changes to the political position of the President. And this is the situation now faced by a number of ministers at a time of the emergence of reports about ‘twin suns’: Prabowo and former president Joko Widodo. They are considered as disloyal to Prabowo as well as lacking competence in carrying out their duties.

From the beginning, Prabowo was too accommodating when deciding on the composition of his cabinet. He put into practice the wise saying he repeatedly used in his speeches: “A thousand friends are too few, one enemy is too many.” The general chair of the Gerindra Party not only included almost all the groups supporting him in the presidential election, but also embraced his political rivals. And the selection of ministers and deputy ministers was not made in a strict fashion. He even included a number of people entrusted by various interests with dubious track records. The cabinet is now suffering from obesity.

Prabowo also used the jargon of continuity. Carrying on a number of Jokowi’s programs that were not properly planned, he reappointed 17 ministers from the previous cabinet. And it is not a coincidence that a number of Prabowo’s ministers did not hesitate to visit Jokowi in Solo, Central Java. Some of them openly referred to Jokowi as their boss.

It is not enough for Prabowo to simply replace those who are disloyal, underachieving or incompetent. The first thing he needs to do is to trim the structure of his oversized cabinet. The presence of more than 100 officials in the cabinet, including ministers, deputy ministers, and heads of institutions, is both ineffective and inefficient. A bloated bureaucracy with officials who lack competence will mean that the achievement of programs will not be optimal. And research by the Center of Economic and Law Studies led to an estimate that the state budget will swell by almost Rp2 trillion over the next five years because of this cabinet of more than 100 members.

So far Prabowo has been reluctant to do anything. He is unwilling to move against any ministers still loyal to Jokowi. The former Commander General of Special Forces Command also owes a political debt to Jokowi from the 2024 election. Without Jokowi, who at the time had a firm grip on resources and political and legal institutions, the result of the presidential election might have been different.

And even if the cabinet is reshuffled, there is no point in hoping that it will be staffed with experts. The appointment of ministers will not be based on merit and will not be aimed at improving the performance of the government, but will be to accommodate the political interests of Prabowo and the Gerindra Party, who are running the country. As a result, a membership of a new cabinet will be just as bad because it will be filled with incompetent and underachieving people. And neither will the problem of poor communication between ministries be overcome.

Before he was inaugurated as president, Prabowo and his supporters promised to form a cabinet of experts. After more than six months of his administration, this promise has disappeared and went no further than empty words.

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