Reshuffle sees Prabowo, allies close ranks

P resident Prabowo Subianto has announced another cabinet shake-up, placing more allies into his 11-month administration, in a bid to consolidate his power amid growing public distrust of his government in the wake of deadly protests and unrest. In a swearing-in ceremony at the State Palace on Wednesday, the President named retired three-star Army general Djamari Chaniago, a politician of Prabowo’s Gerindra Party, the new coordinating politics and security minister, ending a week of speculations over who would fill the most senior post in the security portfolio. The appointment followed Prabowo’s decision last week to remove Budi Gunawan over his alleged failure to control the riots and violence that erupted in multiple cities in late August, which followed the wave of protests fueled by dissatisfaction of the government’s handling of the economy. Budi is also associated with Megawati Soekarnoputri, chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the sole de facto opposition party outside Prabowo’s coalition. In total, two ministers and a Palace official either changed jobs or were appointed to second jobs, eight new names entered the government and three others were cut in the cabinet reshuffle on Monday, the second in about a week. Among those removed was Presidential Communications Office (PCO) head Hasan Nasbi, known to be an ally of former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. The office was also rebranded as the Government Communications Office (GCO) and had its role expanded to handle public messaging across ministries and regional administrations.

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Terbit di The Jakarta Post