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Experts call for more professionals in Cabinet





The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 07/13/2009 11:26 AM | Headlines

A number of experts say they expect the future Cabinet to be more professional once incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is officially named the winner of the July 8 election.

"Yudhoyono must be willing to establish a more professional Cabinet by selecting more ministers from outside parties," Ray Tangkuti, director of the Indonesian Civilized Circle (Lima), told The Jakarta Post on Sunday in Jakarta.

He added Yudhoyono did not have to heed the objections from his coalition partners, because the results of both the legislative and presidential elections showed the incumbent and his Democratic Party (PD) had the upper hand in political power and bargaining position.

"Yudhoyono will ignore all objections from his coalition partners, such as the Prosperous Justice Party *PKS*, about Cabinet seat allocation," Ray said.







"He knows the PKS's behavior. That party will get angry for a bit, but it will then have no other choice but to support his decision."

Ray added the next Cabinet should be limited to 30 ministers ideally, to ensure efficiency.

He also called for more non-party ministers to be appointed.

"The ideal ratio should be 70 percent non-party ministers, and 30 percent from parties," he said.

"Non-party ministers should occupy the economic posts, such as those for finance minister and coordinating minister for the economy. Party ministers should be given less significant posts with less money involved, such as the youth and sports post."

The current finance minister and acting coordinating minister for the economy is Sri Mulyani, a technocrat. The same case can be seen with Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu.

However, Industry Minister Fachmi Idris is a prominent Golkar Party member.

University of Indonesia political expert Syamsul Hadi said Yudhoyono should also keep the education and state-owned enterprises ministries out of reach of parties.

"Those posts deal greatly with the public and state facilities," he said.

"It's very important to keep them free from political influence and interests."

Syamsul said the most ideal candidates should be non-party people with sufficient proficiency in their respective posts.

"I believe the appointment of Boediono as Yudhoyono's vice president will open more doors for a much more professional Cabinet," he said

Gadjah Mada University economist Sri Adiningsih agreed a more professional Cabinet was needed, but warned that party members were not the only ones who espoused vested interests.

"It's hard to find anyone who is completely neutral these days; even non-party figures are involved in a community or a group," she said. (hdt)





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