Asia | Politics in Indonesia

Look who’s back

A sweeping cabinet reshuffle installs an unloved former general

Surprise!
|JAKARTA

JOKO WIDODO, Indonesia’s president, universally known as Jokowi, reshuffled his cabinet on July 27th for the second time since taking office in late 2014. Although observers had expected only minor fiddling, he made big changes.

Most contentious is the appointment of Wiranto (who like many Indonesians uses only one name) as chief security minister. Mr Wiranto (pictured) served as defence minister and head of the armed forces under Suharto, Indonesia’s late strongman, and afterwards during the independence referendum in East Timor (now Timor-Leste) in 1999. Between 1,000 and 2,000 civilians are thought to have lost their lives before and after the vote. Many more were forced to flee their homes. In 2003 a UN-backed court in Timor-Leste indicted Mr Wiranto for crimes against humanity. He has never appeared before it to answer the charges.

Human-rights groups reacted with dismay. They were already decrying Indonesia’s plans to execute by firing squad 14 people, most of them foreigners convicted of drug offences. Keith Loveard, a political-risk consultant in Jakarta, thinks that Mr Wiranto’s appointment may be a “wily” balancing act aimed at setting meddlesome former generals in the cabinet against one another. If so it could eventually allow Jokowi more room to manoeuvre.

Another notable change is the return of Sri Mulyani Indrawati to the post of finance minister. Ms Mulyani, who has been a director at the World Bank since resigning from the government of Indonesia’s previous president, was praised for her management of the economy in 2005-10. She returns at a time when slumping commodity prices are weighing down Indonesia’s growth. Her first priority will be a tax-amnesty scheme intended to lift dwindling revenues and prevent the budget deficit from breaching a legal limit of 3% of GDP.

Indonesia in graphics: Tiger, tiger, almost bright

Though the currency and stockmarket rallied on news of her return, Ms Mulyani will have to work alongside ministers who spoke against her during investigations into a controversial bank bail-out during the financial crisis of 2008-09. These include the vice president, Jusuf Kalla.

After a shaky start to his presidency, Jokowi—Indonesia’s first leader from outside the political or military elite—is looking more confident. In part this reflects a rapprochement with Golkar, the second-largest party in parliament. It backed a rival candidate for the presidency but has since changed its chairman and pledged to support Jokowi, strengthening him in the legislature. He rewarded the party with its first cabinet post, which went to Airlangga Hartarto, who takes the industry ministry, a portfolio his father held before him under Suharto.

No one can accuse Jokowi of dithering after so sweeping a reshuffle. Yet Indonesia’s international standing, already shaken by its policy of executing drug traffickers, will surely be tarnished by the return of Mr Wiranto to one of the most powerful positions in government.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline "Look who’s back"

The new political divide

From the July 30th 2016 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

What next for Pakistan?

The new government faces polarised politics, a faltering economy and terrorist threats

The Islamic State’s branch in Afghanistan is at war with the world

The group which claimed responsibility for the Crocus City Hall attack is increasingly worrying


Arvind Kejriwal’s imprisonment is a stain on India’s democracy

He is the first sitting chief minister in the country’s history to be arrested