JAKARTA: Indonesian President Joko Widodo named a former president’s son from an opposition party as land minister, as part of a cabinet revamp seen as an effort to consolidate power in his final year in office.
Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, the eldest son of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, was appointed as Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister on Wednesday (Feb 21). He replaces Hadi Tjahjanto, who will now move to become the coordinating minister for political, legal, and security affairs.
Before his appointment, Yudhoyono was known as the former Jakarta gubernatorial candidate who now chairs the Democrat party that has at least 7.7% of seats in parliament. He was known for his criticism of the government’s flagship policies such as the Omnibus Law.
The ministries of finance and foreign affairs, held by Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Retno Marsudi, respectively, remain untouched in this reshuffle.
Building alliances with opposition parties allows Jokowi, as he is popularly known, to create stability and also push through ambitious reforms to boost Indonesia’s more than trillion-dollar economy. It becomes all the more necessary after fears of a rift in the ruling coalition as his presidential term nears its end.
The Democrat Party - once part of an alliance backing presidential candidate Anies Baswedan - is one of nine parties backing Prabowo Subianto, who is now widely seen as gaining support from the incumbent after his son Gibran Rakabuming Raka was chosen as his vice presidential candidate. - Bloomberg
