UNAIR NEWS – For the last few days, the news on the cabinet reshuffle issue has been widely heard. It was said to be a response to the Nasdem Party’s stance on supporting Anies Baswedan in the 2024 Election, which has strained the relationship between President Joko Widodo and Nasdem Party’s General Chair Surya Paloh.
As we all know, the Nasdem Party is in coalition with Jokowi’s administration. It gave rise to a feud between the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) and the Nasdem Party, which led to the emergence of a reshuffle.
Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) academic Nuke Faridha Wardhani SIP MM said that a cabinet reshuffle was a natural thing and could happen at any time, considering that this was a presidential privilege as stipulated in Article 17 of the 1945 Constitution. However, she said, the reshuffle issue is getting bigger because Nasdem Party declared Anies Baswedan as a presidential candidate in the 2024 election.
“A cabinet reshuffle is generally carried out considering the performance of the ministers and various other factors such as the Cabinet’s needs and the people’s aspirations. Indeed, it is part of the president’s prerogative and can be done at any time. However, the issue of a reshuffle raised this time because it coincides with the Nasdem Party declaring Anies Baswedan (as presidential candidate, ed),” she told media crews on January 24, 2023.
Furthermore, Nuke said that at this time, it was possible that the party supporting Jokowi in the Cabinet, PDIP, had political interests, so they wanted Nasdem minister in the administration to be replaced immediately. However, the lecturer at UNAIR Department of Political Science would be very regretful if this happened, considering that a lot of Jokowi’s end-of-term work required more focus to be completed immediately.
“I see that he (Jokowi) definitely wants to stay focused on strategic programs such as IKN. In carrying it out, a more stable cabinet is needed, and it should not be disturbed by preparations for the 2024 election,” Nuke explained.
As for the Nasdem party, she continued, it remains in the Cabinet as a moral responsibility to complete Joko Widodo’s administration programs. Although she continued, the conflict of interests between the PDIP and the Nasdem Party could also create a difficult situation within the Nasdem Party.
“I think it’s difficult for Nasdem to be in the Cabinet at the moment, but again it’s about moral responsibility in the sense that when they make step (supporting Anies, ed), this is part of the risk they took, yes, there is a feud with the PDI-P, but like it or not, they must see it through, “ she said.
Author: Haryansyah Setiawan
Editor: Nuri Hermawan
