It is not a sudden step. After quite mature thoughts and long discussions, the president indeed needs some sort of reshuffling of several ministers and deputy ministers. Why is it carried out now? It is because the momentum is calculated to be the moJakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) inaugurated two new government ministers during a ceremony at the Presidential Palace here on Wednesday.
The two new ministers are Zulkilfi Hasan as trade minister, replacing Muhammad Lutfi, and Hadi Tjahjanto as minister of agrarian affairs and spatial planning/head of the National Land Agency, replacing Sofyan Djalil.
Presidential Decision No. 64P of 2022 on the inauguration of state ministers of the Onward Indonesia Cabinet for the 2019-2024 period enacted on Wednesday (Jun 15) is the legal basis for the inauguration of the two ministers.
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Hasan is the current chairperson of the National Mandate Party (PAN) and speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly from 2014 to 2019.
Meanwhile, Tjahjanto was the commander of the Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI) for the 2017-2021 period.
After the presidential decision on the inauguration was read out by an official, the two new ministers took their oath in front of the president while assisted by religious clergy.
The inauguration ceremony concluded with the national anthem Indonesia Raya. Jokowi and other officials then congratulated Hasan and Tjahjanto after the ceremony.
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Earlier, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung stated that President Jokowi had decided to reshuffle the cabinet after thorough consideration.
"It is not a sudden step. After quite mature thoughts and long discussions, the president indeed needs some sort of reshuffling of several ministers and deputy ministers. Why is it carried out now? It is because the momentum is calculated to be the most appropriate at this time," Anung remarked on Wednesday.
Anung expressed optimism that the presence of new ministers and deputy ministers would strengthen the existing cabinet and make the cabinet work in a more agile manner, particularly to address matters related to food and inflation that had currently become a global problem.
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Translator: Indra Arief P, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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