JAKARTA: Indonesian president Joko Widodo reshuffled his Cabinet for the fourth time during his second term in office on Monday (Jul 17), appointing a new communications and informatics minister as well as a number of senior government positions.
Mr Budi Arie Setiadi was named the new communications minister to replace Johnny Plate, who is now under investigation for corruption.
Plate was arrested in May for his involvement in the procurement of thousands of communications towers, the cost of which the Indonesian attorney general’s office said was inflated and resulted in about 8 trillion rupiah (US$544 million) in state losses.
This was the fifth time a member of Mr Widodo’s Cabinet was embroiled in a corruption scandal. Most recently, his social affairs and fisheries ministers were jailed in 2021 for graft.
Mr Setiadi, a former journalist turned founder of Mr Widodo’s volunteer group Projo, previously served as deputy minister of villages, development of disadvantaged regions, and transmigration.
The president, popularly known as Jokowi, also appointed Mr Paiman Raharjo to replace Mr Setiadi as deputy minister. Mr Raharjo is currently the rector of Moestopo University in Jakarta.
Jokowi also created a new deputy minister of communications and informatics minister position and appointed Mr Nezar Patria, a former chief editor of the Jakarta Post newspaper.
Meanwhile, the president reassigned Mr Pahala Nugraha Mansury, who previously served as deputy minister of state owned enterprises (SOE), as the new deputy minister for foreign affairs.
The deputy foreign minister position has been vacant since July 2022 when the previous deputy minister Mahendra Siregar was appointed as the chief of the Financial Services Authority, a regulatory body that monitors all financial service providers.
Replacing Mr Mansury as deputy SOE minister is Mr Rosan Roeslani, a businessman who previously served as Indonesian ambassador for the United States.
Another change is in the deputy minister for religious affairs position who went from Mr Zainut Tauhid Sa’adi to Mr Saiful Rahmat Dasuki.
Speaking after the inauguration, Jokowi said the reshuffle was done “so that (the Cabinet) can work more efficiently”.
The president also said the deputy religious minister’s reshuffle was “requested by the party”. Both Sa’adi and Dasuki are members of the United Development Party (PPP).
The new appointees will only serve until October 2024 when a new Indonesian president is sworn in.
A presidential election is slated for February 2024 and by law, Jokowi cannot run for a third term.