Cabinet "Reshuffle", Palace: Only the President Knows

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The performance of ministers in President Prabowo Subianto's government is considered necessary to be evaluated. However, no one knows when the replacement or reshuffle of ministers will be the end of the evaluation, except the President himself.

Head of the Presidential Communications Office Hasan Nasbi in Jakarta, Friday (7/2/2025), stated that his party did not have sufficient information regarding the cabinet reshuffle. However, he saw that President Prabowo's warning regarding the cabinet's performance was not aimed at a particular minister, but rather applied generally.

"So about when the time is (reshuffle), who the person is, only the President really knows. Those outside are just guessing. The President always gives direction, including reminders to cabinet members. This (warning on Harlah NU) is something that applies generally, anyone who does not want to be in tune will get an evaluation from the President. So it is not aimed at certain people," he said.

Hasan denied that the warning was first issued by Prabowo. He stated that the President had already asked his supporters to follow him several times and requested others to leave if they had a different stance.

He also denied issues related to problems in the Kabinet Merah Putih. He believes that the President still appreciates the performance of his aides, coupled with good results from various survey institutions.

"Good appreciation to cabinet members, because they have carried out the President's directives and worked well. That is reflected in the approval rating. There have been three institutions that have issued it and the results are good. From Litbang Kompas 80.9 percent, Indikator version 79 percent, and Survey Indonesia version 85 percent," he said.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Central Leadership Council of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (DPP PDI-P), Said Abdullah, considers the performance of Prabowo's administration to still be regarded as good due to high public satisfaction. However, the President needs to evaluate the ministers who have not been able to keep up with the rhythm in his cabinet.

According to Said, the President knows better which ministries need to be pushed to realize Asta Cita, which are the programs initiated by the government under the leadership of Prabowo-Gibran.

"If we look at the orchestration from the ranks of the ministries, indeed I hope the President can evaluate the ministers who are struggling and stuttering to keep up with the President's fast pace. In fact, there are policies from ministers that eventually made the President intervene directly to stop their policies," said Said.

This is evident, for instance, on Tuesday (February 4, 2025), when President Prabowo allowed retailers to resume selling 3-kilogram (kg) LPG after the public faced difficulties obtaining LPG as a side effect of the transition in the regulation of subsidized gas distribution.

According to Said, this has caused a commotion because it concerns the lives of the wider community. "Yes, it must be about LPG because it has caused a commotion, then the policies taken have not been tested for their validity and sophistication. In fact, every policy that concerns the lives of many people needs a pilot project first at several points," he said.

According to Said, the first 100 days of government are actually enough to evaluate, even to do a reshuffle. However, he estimates that it will not be done in the near future.

"It seems that our President will look at, let's say three or four months to do a reshuffle," he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chairman of the Golkar Party Ahmad Doli Kurnia considers the difficulty of the community in obtaining 3 kg LPG gas to be part of the policy dynamics occurring in the field.

Therefore, he refused if due to this problem, the General Chairman of Golkar who is now serving as Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Bahlil Lahadalia, became the target of a reshuffle due to not being in line with the President.

He emphasized that there was not a single minister from the Red and White Cabinet who came from his party who did not agree with the President.

"There are eight of our cadres (in the cabinet), including the General Chairperson who is the best cadre of the party. That then there are challenges faced in the field, that is his job, and the one who can measure it is the President," he explained.