Just a few weeks before he announces his resignation, Indonesian President Joko Widodo will reorganize his cabinet on Monday in an attempt to facilitate the handoff to Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, who will succeed him, according to his office.
Jokowi, also known as Widodo, will take over as president in October. He leaves with an unprecedented amount of popularity and an economic record that included steady growth following the Covid-19 pandemic.
On Monday morning, Jokowi will swear in new ministers for energy and mineral resources, investment, and law and human rights. He will also appoint a new chief of the national nutrition agency and head of the food and pharmaceuticals agency.
“The appointments of these ministers… and agency heads are necessary to facilitate a smooth, orderly, and effective government transition,” coordinator of the president’s special staff, Ari Dwipayana, said in a statement.
The national nutrition agency has been created to help Prabowo’s key campaign pledge — a multibillion-dollar pledge to give schoolchildren free meals.
Yunarto Wijaya, executive director at research institute Charta Politika, said the new ministers would be “Prabowo’s people”, approved by Jokowi.
“There are likely political undertones, besides the transition purpose,” he said.
Jokowi, raised in a bamboo shack in a riverside slum on Indonesia’s biggest island of Java, last week hailed his government’s record on the economy, development and infrastructure building in his final state of the nation address.
The Indonesian president, who defeated Prabowo twice in the elections of 2014 and 2019, held office for the maximum two terms, or ten years.
Jokowi’s oldest son ran as Prabowo’s vice presidential candidate, attracting accusations of nepotism but helping him win.
With the backing of Jokowi and his children, the defense chief surged in the polls and promised to continue the popular economic measures.
However, a significant Jokowi legacy project—a $32-billion future capital on Borneo island—remains beset by finance issues and building delays.
