Photo: President Joko Widodo, source: Pinterpolitik.com
Stramed, President Joko Widodo is probably looking for a succession of leadership in coalition parties including Golkar, before the inauguration of the president and vice president in October 2019, chairman of Golkar Party’s Central Executive Board, Andi Sinulingga said. “What I heard was (the coalition party can complete the leadership succession) before the inauguration, but this was not uttered directly by Pak Jokowi,” Andi said here Monday. Whether or not Golkar should follow the president’s cues, is based on the party’s internal needs, he said.
Golkar remained a supporter of the government and its internal affairs were a matter for the party cadres, according to him. However, there had been pressure from some of the cadre and also administrators of the Golkar Regional Representative Councils to immediately hold a National Conference this September, Andi stated. However, Golkar had so far not scheduled the National Conference due to its internal dynamics, Andi acknowledged.Some want the Golkar National Conference to be held in September, while others want it in December 2019, he said.
Golkar, as a political party supporting the government, has a significant role in guarding the Jokowi-Ma’ruf Amin government going forward, he added. “I am an immediate supporter of the meeting to determine when a good general assembly is for the Golkar party,” he said. A number of parties supporting Jokowi-Ma’ruf simultaneously accelerated the implementation of his leadership succession before the inauguration, Andi noted.
Among them were the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the National Awakening Party (PKB), because of which Golkar as a supporter of Jokowi-Ma’ruf also had to hold a National Conference before the inauguration. After his, President Joko Widodo said his new cabinet for the second-term of his presidency might include millennials or youths under 30 years old.
A fast-moving world needs fast-moving youths who could execute government programs swiftly, the president said, as he focuses on human capital development in his second term.
United Development Party secretary-general Arsul Sani said his party supports the president’s agenda to include youths in his cabinet. He also said that parties that had just joined his coalition should get more than one position in the cabinet. Jokowi has not revealed his cabinet structure.
Meanwhile, young people have taken a central role in the administration of the country since the famous “Youth Oath” in 1928. Young Indonesian fighters, known as “pemuda,” were also heavily involved in the Independence War after the Second World War. This year’s election involved a newly created “millennials’ party” called the Indonesian Solidarity Party, who did not make this year’s parliamentary threshold but has vowed to continue supporting Jokowi.
Globally, there has been a trend of young people occupying ministerial or other important government positions. Malaysia’s current Youth and Sports Minister is 25-year-old Syed Saddiq. United Arab Emirates’ Youth Affairs Minister is even younger, 22-year-old Shamma Al Mazrui. The United States also has the youngest woman sitting in its Congress, 29-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, known for her championing of youth, immigration and other controversial issues in the babyboomer-dominated congress.
A researcher in political governance at the Gadjah Mada University Research Center, Ignasius Juru, said age should not be a prerequisite to become a minister. But young people should possess at least three of the following qualities if they were to occupy important positions in the government.
First, according to Ignasius, they must have agency, which means they should represent a clear vision and also understand statesmanship. He said a smart young politician should have the potential to become a leader of the future.
Second, they must have a huge political capacity and conduct themselves professionally. This would allow them to draft policies and negotiate with different political interest. Third, they must have a strong geopolitical knowledge to be able to navigate their way through regional and global politics.
Jokowi’s intention to include millennials in his cabinet has been welcomed by young Indonesians. Cania, a 24-year-old vlogger, said young people should occupy the Youth and Sports Minister and Communication and Informatics Minister posts.
Young people are also more suitable for the Communication and Informatics Minister post because they are more adaptable and more up-to-date with the flow of information in the world, according to Cania.
However, she also said that they should have the right qualification for the job. Meanwhile, R. Adysurya, a 22-year old student and software engineer, said having the right qualification is very crucial. On the other hand, Iffah, a 23-year old accountant, said she doesn’t think 20-year-olds should occupy ministerial positions.
Separately, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri said she would not interfere with formation of cabinet by President-elect Joko Widodo or Jokowi. Megawati said everything is up to Widodo, who won his second term of presidency for the period of 2019-2024. “I leave everything to the president,” Megawati said through a written statement on Wednesday night, July 10.
According to Mega, the president, in accordance with his considerations, will decide who would be his assistants in the cabinet. The PDIP, she added, can only make suggestions and propose names. “But there is no proportional calculation about how [the cabinet composition] should be,” Megawati said.
The fifth President of the Republic of Indonesia said that her duty as chairwoman of a political party had been completed by delivering Jokowi and Ma’ruf Amin as elected presidents and vice presidents for the 2019-2024 period.
Currently, political discourse in Indonesia is dominated by the next cabinet structure under Jokowi and Ma’ruf Amin’s leadership. After Jokowi met with his former rivals, Prabowo Subianto, some political pundits have predicted that Gerindra party will joint to the coming cabinet eventhough “political siege” has been faced to Prabowo Subianto especially from his former political alliances such as PKS, PA 212 and others prominent figure like Amien Rais.
Substantially and basically, Jokowi has not political burden to select his ministers because on his second term, Jokowi will do and move fastly to reach his coming “political and economic dream”, because of that, Jokowi will select his next ministers who are coming from political party, his team success, millennials person and the success ministers during the first term government.
Rumoursly, several names who are predicted will be selected by Jokowi as his ministers such as Moeldoko, Rheinald Kasali, Budi Gunawan, Tito Karnavian, Hasto Kristiyanto, Hendrawan Pratikno, Bahlil Lahadia, Ari Ashkara, Mahfud MD, Erick Thohir, Emmy Hafild, Adian Napitupulu, Yenny Wahid, Hilmar Farid, Diaz Hendropriyono, Susi Pudjiastuti, Sri Mulyani, Basuki Hadi Mulyono, Pratikno, Pramono Anung, Arminsyah, Andhika Prakasa as the Indonesia Military Commander, Fadli Zon, Doni Monardo as the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief and others (Red/many sources).