REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The leadership of the House of Representatives (DPR) met with the chairpersons of political party factions here on Thursday to discuss a letter from President regarding cabinet formation.
"The meeting held on behalf of a deliberative body will make a decision, and if the decision needs to be handed over to House Commissions, we will do it," DPR deputy speaker Agus Hermanto said.
He added that the meeting will offer the DPR many options to choose from with regard to President Jokowi's (Joko Widodo) request for its consideration of his plan to change the current cabinet formation.
He, however, declined to talk about the decisions that the DPR could possibly make with regard to Jokowi's request.
"Any further course of action will depend on the result of the meeting," he stressed.
Another deputy house speaker Fahri Hamzah said it was not necessary for President Jokowi to seek the DPR's recommendations with regard to his plan. But the fact is that he has already submitted the letter regarding his plan to the DPR.
Hence, it will be ethically right for the President to announce his cabinet only after he receives the DPR's recommendations, he noted.
"That's why I was surprised when I heard Wednesday evening that President Jokowi was going to announce his cabinet," he stated.
Fahri remarked that he believed President Jokowi will not announce his cabinet until the DPR's recommendations are produced.
As per the law, the DPR has seven days to reply to the President's letter, he added.
President Jokowi submitted a letter to the DPR on October 22 seeking its recommendations with regard to his plan to combine or separate ministries in his future cabinet.
The current public works ministry and the ministry of housing, for example, would be combined under a new nomenclature of the ministry of public housing and public works while the nomenclature of the ministry of tourism and creative economy would be changed to the ministry of tourism. The ministry of education and culture would be separated to form the ministry of culture, elementary and secondary education and the ministry of high learning institutes, research and technology.
The ministry of forestry and ministry of environment would be merged to form the ministry of forestry and environment; the nomenclature of the ministry of manpower and transmigration would be changed to the ministry of manpower while the ministry of backward regions will be called the ministry of village and backward region affairs.
The nomenclature of the office of coordinating minister for people's welfare would be changed to the office of the coordinating minister for human development and culture.
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