Round-up on cabinet reshuffle

Vice President Jusuf Kalla denied earlier reports today about the possibility to have two coordinating ministers in charge of economic affairs in a reshuffled cabinet to be announced tonight in Yogyakarta. Kalla will fly to the city at 5 PM to discuss the reshuffle with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Kalla admitted he don't know the reshufle details.

President Soeharto once divided the economic portfolio into two coordinating ministers, one for finance/state budget/supervision and one for production/distribution. But that was a total mess that partly led to the financial crisis in 1997.

Detik.com claimed its source told that coordinating minister for welfare affairs Alwi Shihab would almost certain be ousted from the cabinet. The incument coordinating minister for economy Aburizal Bakrie will take Alwi's place as the incoming Dr Boediono will takeover Bakrie's post.

Bakrie seems to had raised the white flag with his statements that whoever replace him would not make difficult decisions anymore. "Difficult decision, raising the fuel price, has been taken. No more difficult decisions," he told regional representatives council (DPD) in a meeting this morning.

"I have no problem to be outside of this administration," Bakrie said.

Senior politican and DPR member Sarwono Kusumaatmadja (former minister under Soeharto, Habibie, and Wahid administrations) advised Bakrie that if he wants certainty, stay out of politics. "In politic, we have to deal with uncertainty. Whatever happens, let it go," Sarwono was quoted by Detik.com.

Tempointeraktif.com, meanwhile, reported that Alwi expressed that he is ready to be ousted and would accept an ambassador post as long as not for East Timor."That would be too cruel (to be Indonesian ambassador to East Timor)," Alwi said when asked about his next assignment.

House speaker Agung Laksono warned president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that any move to oust Bakrie and Fami Idris (minister for manpower), both are Golkar Party cadres, would be dangerous.

Rumors this hours said economist Anggito Abimanyu, currently one of top officer at the ministry of finance and confidante of Dr Boediono when the later was the minister, might be promoted to chair the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas). Sri Mulyani Indrawati, the chairwoman of Bappenas, is tipped to replace Jusuf Anwar as minister of finance.

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