Indonesia's new president announces Cabinet. It's the largest in the country's history
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has announced his Cabinet hours after he was inaugurated
JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto announced his Cabinet late Sunday, hours after he was inaugurated.
The lineup of 109 ministers, vice ministers and head of national agencies was the largest in the country’s history, and he named it the “Red and White Cabinet,” referring to the colors of Indonesia’s national flag.
Subianto became the eighth president of Southeast Asia’s largest economy on Sunday.
The Cabinet of Subianto’s predecessor, Joko Widodo, had 34 ministers and head of government agencies.
Subianto has said earlier that he needs a strong administration, even though analysts said that his “fat” Cabinet would bloat the bureaucracy.
“I want to create a strong government that would unite our multicultural society and diverse political interests,” Subianto said before inviting more than 100 people for interviews at his residence last week. “It must be a big coalition, and some will say my Cabinet is fat.”
The Cabinet features politicians from a coalition of seven parties who supported his victory in the February election, and figures allied with Widodo’s Cabinet, who were reappointed to continue their jobs under Subianto’s presidency. Analysts said the move was a political reward to Widodo for the latter’s tacit support in the election.
Subianto was sworn in with his new vice president, 37-year-old Surakarta ex-Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka. He chose Raka, who is Widodo’s son, as his running mate, with Widodo favoring Subianto over the candidate of his own former party. The former rivals became tacit allies, even though Indonesian presidents don’t typically endorse candidates.
Subianto was a longtime
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