Jokowi Likely Wants an Exemption for Airlangga Hartanto
Credits: rilis.id
Airlangga has now become one of Jokowi’s most important allies and the president will make an effort to allow flexibility regarding his strict cabinet policy.
As president-elect in 2014, Jokowi promised to keep the cabinet free of politics, implementing a strict policy that required cabinet members to relinquish all political party positions once they are appointed as minister. Party chairs, for example, would have to resign before joining the cabinet.
As one of Jokowi’s best performing ministers, the president will likely push to make an exemption for Airlangga and attempt to dismiss any calls for him to be removed from the cabinet citing that this is a special case, as he became party chairman after appointed as minister.
The president desperately needs the Golkar chairman’s support with the shifting political dynamics as the country moves toward 2018 regional elections and 2019 national elections. Jokowi will need someone that can deliver on the programs that he campaigned on and someone that will maneuver to secure his ticket for a second term.
Jokowi is relying on Golkar to secure political support within parliament and Airlangga will be his key communicator between parties within the government coalition as well as with the opposition.
If Airlangga were removed from the cabinet, it would drastically reduce the president’s communication time with him, from having daily communication to about once a month.
If Airlangga were replaced, this would create a “snowball” effect and end up in a larger cabinet reshuffle due to the changing political factors. (Related to this issue is current Minister of Social Affairs Mrs. Kofifah who is planning to remain in the cabinet while simultaneously running for governor of East Java beginning mid January 2018. Some have called for her to step down if she does in fact run. This would result in two cabinet positions to be filled based on lengthy political negotiations and likely result in a full reshuffle.)
The new Golkar chairman may appoint a party member as House speaker that has senior stature but has no future ambitions that could pose a challenge to Airlangga.
Airlangga is likely to appoint a strong ally as the party’s secretary general to handle the day-to-day affairs of the party while he is minister. He is likely to skip on appointing a strong deputy Golkar chairman in an effort to consolidate his power.
He is viewed by many observers as one the few stars of Jokowi’s cabinet with a track record as minister as implementing his policies (with a few exceptions).
Airlangga has shown his strong support towards Jokowi and is considered to be a loyal and reliable partner for the president.
As minister of industry since November 2016, Airlangga has built a reputation among both Indonesian and multinational executives as a champion of improving the country’s business climate while at same time working to cultivating Indonesia’s workforce.