New President Subianto announces Indonesia’s largest-ever Cabinet, with 109 members

Newly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto announced Indonesia’s largest-ever Cabinet late Sunday, with 109 members representing his pledge for a strong government.

He named his Cabinet of ministers, vice ministers and head of national agencies the “Red and White Cabinet,” referring to the colors of Indonesia’s flag.

Subianto became the eighth president of Southeat Asia’s largest economy on Sunday.

The Cabinet of Subianto’s predecessor, Joko Widodo, had 34 ministers and head of government agencies.

Subianto has said earlier that he needs a strog administration, even though analysts said that his “fat” Cabinet would bloat the bureaucracy.

“I want to create a strong government that would unite our multicultural society and diverse political interests,” Subianto said before inviting more than 100 people for interviews at his residence last week. “It must be a big coalition, and some will say my Cabinet is fat.”

The Cabinet features politicians from a coalition of seven parties who supported his victory in the February election, and figures allied with Widodo’s Cabinet, who were reappointed to continue their jobs under Subianto’s presidency. Analysts said the move was a political reward to Widodo for the latter’s tacit support in the election.

Subianto was sworn in with his new vice president, 37-year-old Surakarta ex-Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka. He chose Raka, who is Widodo’s son, as his running mate, with Widodo favoring Subianto over the candidate of his own former party. The former rivals became tacit allies, even though Indonesian presidents don’t typically endorse candidates.

Subianto was a longtime rival of the Widodo, who ran against him for the presidency twice and refused to accept his defeat on both occasions, in 2014 and 2019. (AP)

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