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Widodo to replace economy ministers in Cabinet reshuffle
Posted On Aug 12 2015
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Four other ministers were replaced in the reshuffle, which followed months of speculation that Widodo planned changes after a poor start to his presidency.
The Indonesian president replaced key ministers as part of a wider Cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday.
The president, who took office in October amid high expectatons for reforms, has been under pressure from politicians and the public to replace his economic team, which has been criticized for perceived underperformance.
A former official of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA), Thomas Lembong, will take over as Trade Minister, replacing Rachmat Gobel
Nasution, 66, is widely respected in the business community and the financial markets, which may help shore up confidence as the rupiah languishes at its lowest levels against the U.S. dollar in more than 17 years. South-East Asia’s largest economy grew 4.67 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter, the slowest past since 2009. Lembong, a Harvard-educated investment banker, is the chief executive of Quvat Management, a Singapore-based private equity firm that invests in Indonesia. A source familiar with Widodo’s plan said the president is keen to dispel an impression that his leadership is weak and policy muddled. Mr. Nasution served as Governor of the Central Bank from 2009 to 2013. “At the end of the day, however, it will depend on whether he has the political air cover from his boss to do what he needs to do on the ground”. Former military General Luhut Panjaitan, the former chief of staff and an influential advisor to the president has been rewarded with a powerful chief minister position, overseeing defence, foreign affairs and human rights. The internal power struggle between five factions in the government is analysed as the reason for the slowness of Jokowi in announcing this reshuffle. “We believe that this will be temporary”, Adityaswara said.
