PRESIDENT Joko Widodo (Jokowi) officially inaugurated three deputy ministers of the Advanced Indonesia Cabinet (KIM) for the remaining term of office for the 2019-2024 period at the State Palace, Central Jakarta, Thursday (18/7).
Those who were inaugurated were Thomas Djiwandono, as Deputy Minister of Finance. Now Finance Minister Sri Mulyani has another deputy minister besides Suahasil Nazara.
Then Yuliot Tanjung who filled the new position of Deputy Minister of Investment. And Sudaryono as Deputy Minister of Agriculture replacing Harvick Hasnul Qolbi.
Responding to this, Managing Director of Political Economy and Policy Studies (PEPS), Anthony Budiawan, said that the addition of new positions or posts such as deputy ministers, 3 months before stepping down was clearly only for political purposes.
“Including giving back to certain parties who are considered to have rendered services during the previous campaign. This should be categorized as abuse of presidential authority to benefit other parties, which can harm state finances,” Anthony emphasized to Media Indonesia, Thursday (17/7).
Anthony revealed that this abuse of authority might be considered a criminal act as referred to in Article 3 of the Corruption Eradication Law.
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Anthony explained that the appointment of the deputy minister position would not be beneficial to the management of the national economy.
“On the contrary, adding new positions 3 months before stepping down will be a waste of the APBN, which will harm state finances,” he stressed.
No Urgency
Meanwhile, Senior Researcher at the Center for Political Research at the National Research and Innovation Agency BRIN Lili Romli, revealed that with the remaining time of Jokowi’s administration soon to end, the reshuffle was not urgent.
Also read: Jokowi Inaugurates Three Deputy Ministers, Apindo: Steps to Smooth Transition
“With only a few months left, the public will see that there is no urgency in appointing these deputy ministers,” Lili explained, Thursday (18/7).
Lili said that the public would see the inauguration of the deputy ministers as an event to share out positions.
“The public will tend to see it as just a matter of sharing positions rather than improving the ministry’s performance,” he said. (Ykb/Z-7)
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