President Prabowo Reshuffles Cabinet, Allegedly in Response to Public Criticism

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — President Prabowo Subianto reshuffled the composition of the Merah Putih Cabinet just four months into his administration. In this first cabinet reshuffle, the President removed Satryo Soemantri Brodjonegoro from his position as Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology and appointed Brian Yuliarto as his replacement. This move is considered crucial to respond to public criticism and to remind the ministers to work in accordance with the public's will.

President Prabowo Subianto inaugurated Brian Yuliarto as the Minister of Higher Education, Science, and Technology (Mendiktisaintek) at the State Palace, Jakarta, on Wednesday afternoon (19/2/2025). The inauguration was attended by Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka and several ministers of the Merah Putih Cabinet. Some of the ministers present included Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Pratikno, Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment Muhaimin Iskandar, Minister of Home Affairs Tito Karnavian, Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani, and Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Science Technology Stella Christie.

Met after the inauguration, Brian, who is a Professor at the Faculty of Industrial Technology at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), West Java, with a research track record related to nano and quantum technology, admitted that he received the news of his appointment as Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology on Wednesday morning around 09.00, about six hours before the inauguration time in Jakarta. When he received the news, he was still in Bandung.

Nevertheless, the graduate of the master's and doctoral programs at the University of Tokyo admitted to having communicated with President Prabowo. One of the requests was to immediately consolidate efforts to realize the President's work program.

"Of course there were talks, there were many things, yes, about the development of Indonesia. But to be contacted it was only this morning," said Brian.

Brian was inaugurated to replace the position of Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology previously held by Satryo Soemantri Brodjonegoro. During Satryo's four-month leadership, the ministry came under public scrutiny. One of the issues was the performance allowances for civil servant lecturers that had not been disbursed by the government. Additionally, at the end of January, employees of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology also held a demonstration to protest the unilateral dismissal of several civil servants by Satryo. Lastly, the policy of cutting the education budget also drew public attention, leading to student protests in various regions on Monday (17/2/2025).

Brian also admitted that he could not yet outline the steps that would be taken to resolve several issues that have become public concerns because he was just inaugurated. Nevertheless, he promised to immediately study all the problems, including the matter of lecturer performance allowances.

"Later we will study everything, we will finish it quickly together, coordinating with other stakeholders, yes. I, you know, just got in, of course I will study with my friends in the ministry," he said.

In a separate meeting, Deputy Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Stella Christie did not respond when asked about the reason for the replacement of the Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology. However, she believes that the President's decisions are always made in the interest of the country. Therefore, she supports this cabinet reshuffle.

Even though it was done during the new four-month government, according to her, the change of ministers would not have a significant effect on the performance within the Ministry of Education and Science and Technology. Because, whoever the minister is who serves in the ranks of the Ministry of Education and Science and Technology will support. "For performance, we always help ministers who are ready to regulate decisions," said Stella.

Researcher at the Center for Political Research of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Wasisto Raharjo Jati assessed that the first cabinet reshuffle was carried out by the President to respond to a number of problems at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, including strong criticism from the public. The problems were mainly about the disbursement of performance allowances for ASN lecturers and budget cuts that reportedly had an impact on cutting the budget for the Smart Indonesia Card (KIP) for College. These problems were not only criticized but also sparked demonstrations in various regions.

"Those two things are what I think are the reasons for urgently changing ministers so that the various harsh criticisms do not become a long-lasting hot potato in the public space," said Wasisto.

According to him, there is no ideal parameter for a cabinet reshuffle to refer to a certain period. Therefore, it is not a problem if the President sees the need for a change of ministers in the fourth month of his leadership. Because, if the performance of the President's assistants draws harsh criticism from the public for a long time, it will certainly be a direct evaluation material for the President.

This first cabinet reshuffle was carried out by the President in response to a number of problems at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, including strong criticism from the public.

Wasisto sees that this cabinet reshuffle pattern could also be a new pattern in cabinet reshuffles. There is a tendency for the President to evaluate his ministers based on the suitability of policies with the impacts that occur in society, not just political considerations. Therefore, other ministers must also really pay attention to their performance so as not to conflict with the public's will.

"Moreover, the public is increasingly critical. This is what then developed into a serious consideration (from the President in reshuffling the cabinet)," said Wasisto.

Chairman of the Muhammadiyah Central Leadership Haedar Nashir through a written statement said that he believes that Brian can carry out the mandate as Minister of Education and Science from the President as well as possible. However, he reminded that higher education is important to strengthen character education and improve the ability of human resources who have mastery of science and technology and are highly competitive. For that, he also hopes that the policies of the Ministry of Education and Science prioritize the principles of inclusivity, equality, and justice for all educational institutions.

On the same occasion, the President also inaugurated several other officials. They are the Head of the Financial and Development Supervisory Agency (BPKP) Muhammad Yusuf Ateh, the Head of the National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN) Lieutenant General Nugroho Sulistyo Budi, and the Head of the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti. In addition, the Deputy Chairperson of BPKP Agustina Arumsari and the Deputy Head of BPS Sonny Harry Budiutomo Harmadi were also inaugurated.

In addition to those who were inaugurated, there was also Air Marshal Mohammad Syafii who will become the Head of the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas). Cybersecurity expert Pratama Persadha was also present because according to reports, he will become the Deputy Head of BSSN. Both came in black suits, white shirts, and blue ties, the same as the officials who were inaugurated.

However, until the event ended, they were not inaugurated by the President. The President and Vice President only shook their hands after inaugurating the Minister of Education and Science and a number of heads and heads of agencies. However, they admitted that they were previously contacted by the Palace.

Contacted separately, Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya said that they came as invitees. Because, the Head of Basarnas and the Deputy Head of BSSN were not inaugurated by the President. "There was no inauguration invitation, they came as invitees," he said.