Where Does The Reshuffle Wind Blow?

JAKARTA - The second wave of Cabinet reshuffle is expected to be carried out by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) anytime soon. There are several reasons that require the president to do so.

Political observer from University of Indonesia (UI) Agung Supriyo said the reshuffle is necessary to be done considering the performance of his ministers. First reason is associated with the forest fires and haze in Sumatera and Kalimantan.

According to Agung, people saw the poor performance of the Minister of Forestry (MoF) Siti Nurbaya in handling the forest fires. This made the popularity of the government lead by Jokowi and Jusuf Kalla (JK) plunged.

“The forest fires had tarnished Indonesia in the international community. Given this fact, MoF deserves to be attached into the reshuffle,” Agung said.

Second is related to law case after Attorney General HM Prasetyo was dragged into a corruption case that involved the Governor of North Sumatera.

"It's the Attorney General, although not yet proven, but his name has been dragged (into the corruption case). That matter is making Jokowi government being considered indecisive and ambiguous in law enforcement," said Agung.

Meanwhile, Prasetyo said he was not disturbed by the cabinet reshuffle issue. He thought that he didn’t do anything wrong so far.

"Oh no, no (not disturbed), because I didn't do anything, why should I? Now, how do you see my face? Is there any changes?" Prasetyo said when confirmed after attending the Memorial Day ceremony at the Heroes Cemetery (TMP) Kalibata, South Jakarta, on Tuesday (11/10/2015).

Prasetyo was also reluctant to respond to the reshuffle cabinet issue. "Do not ask me about it, do not ask me, it's not my competence to say anything about it, please, ask the others," said Prasetyo.

He also invited all the parties to evaluate his performance during his lead at the General Attorney Office. "Well, you all can evaluate my performance," he said.

There is a rumor that Prasetyo will be replaced by the former Chairman of the Constitutional Court (MK), Hamdan Zoelva.

Third, Jokowi will also consider substituting some minister who was not favored by the parties, especially supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP). One of them is SOE Minister, Rini Soemarno.

"Rini Soemarno, who is (allegedly) dragged into Pelindo II scandal. PDIP’s attack against Rini is very hard. Mega also criticized the fast train program,” said Agung.

The last reason is the inclusion National Mandate Party (PAN) into the government. "The entry of PAN into government coalition became a consideration factor Jokowi do reshuffle," he said.