REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- President-elect Joko Widodo, or Jokowi, has come to realize that an unconditional coalition was not possible, so the next cabinet might also include coalition party members, according to a Golkar Party member.
"In the beginning, Jokowi was very confident about forming an unconditional coalition. But, in reality, it is politic to seek consensus and support of all parties," Tantowi Yahya, the deputy secretary of the Golkar Party, noted here on Monday.
Jokowi thought selecting the cabinet ministers was his prerogative, but political parties' support demanded compensation, Yahya pointed out.
Because of the pressure from his coalition, the Great Indonesian Coalition, and other political parties supporting him, Jokowi, finally, realized that an unconditional coalition was not possible.
"The next cabinet formation was not announced (earlier) so as to avoid embarrassing people (those who would have been appointed as ministers)," he remarked.
Ministerial candidates for the next cabinet might change any time because political negotiations were still going on. Candidates from political parties might replace professional ones, he added.
"Based on his team's inputs, Jokowi can actually ensure he has the right men for his cabinet. However, because of the ongoing dynamic, Jokowi has refrained from announcing them (the candidates' names)," Yahya stated.
Jokowi and Vice-President-elect Jusuf Kalla have announced that their cabinet will consist of 33 ministers and four coordinating ministers. However, they have refrained from mentioning the names of their ministerial candidates.
Earlier, on Sept 15, they said there will be 34 ministers comprising 18 professionals and 16 political party members.
On May 14, 2014, when the PDIP, PKB, and NasDem declared their support for Jokowi's candidacy in the 2014 presidential election, Jokowi had said the parties agreed to form an unconditional coalition.
Jokowi had claimed that he was a very happy man because the parties never dictated who should be his ministers or vice-president, Republika.com reported.
"It's slim and unconditional, it could be 1, 2, 3 parties but it's unconditional because (we) want to strengthen the presidential system," Jokowi was quoted as saying by MetroTVNews.com on May 16, 2014.
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