The reshuffle comes almost a year after Widodo replaced key members of his economics team.
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Others were the appointment of political strongman Luhut Pandjaitan as the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs, and the placing of retired general Wiranto – a former commander of the Indonesian military – to take over his role as the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs.
Widodo, who became president after the October 2014 election, last reshuffled his cabinet in August 2015.
Most contentious is the appointment of Wiranto (who like many Indonesians uses only one name) as chief security minister.
Another notable change is the return of Sri Mulyani Indrawati to the post of finance minister. The locus and tempus delicti of my supposed human rights abuses must be clear – when, where, and how I was involved.
Gen. Wiranto was also publicly named as a suspect in the inquiry initiated in 1999 by Indonesia’s National Commission on Human Rights (Komisi Nasional Hak Asasi Manusia, Komnas HAM), but was never charged in Indonesia. Numerous new appointments were in economy-related ministries, reflecting Jokowi’s focus on developing an economy that is one of the largest in Asia but suffers from weak infrastructure and entrenched poverty.
Mr Wellian said that Mr Joko had awarded enough ministerial positions to his new political allies, such as Golkar and Hanura parties, without sacrificing too much professionalism.
A total of 13 ministries were changed and nine of the ministers are new to the Cabinet.
“We have to resolve the poverty problem”.
Al-Araf, director of Imparsial, also criticized Jokowi’s decision in choosing Wiranto, calling it a demonstration of the president’s shaky stance on upholding human rights.
Wednesday’s cabinet shake-up is President Joko Widodo’s attempt at strengthening the Southeast Asian country’s struggling economy.
The head of prisons in Central Java province said Tuesday that about 1,000 police have been sent to Cilacap, the town nearest the maximum security island, and that the prison is waiting for the attorney general’s order to carry out the executions.
It would be the third set of executions under Jokowi, who campaigned on promises to improve human rights in Indonesia. Yet Indonesia’s global standing, already shaken by its policy of executing drug traffickers, will surely be tarnished by the return of Mr Wiranto to one of the most powerful positions in government.
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According to Amnesty International, which has been pushing for the abolishment of capital punishment, at least another 14 people could be executed this week, a lot of them convicted for drug offenses.
