"It (the delay) does not mean that the government is not working, as we have a secretary general and director general in each ministry, who will later give the report to the elected ministers," JK said.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesias Vice President Jusuf Kalla (JK) denied claims that the delayed announcement of the ministerial candidates by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo affected the governments administrative functioning.

"It (the delay) does not mean that the government is not working, as we have a secretary general and director general in each ministry, who will later give the report to the elected ministers," JK informed the press at the Vice Presidential office here on Friday.

Even after four days since his inauguration, President Jokowi has not yet announced his ministerial cabinet.

Despite the fact that he still has 14 days to create the cabinet as regulated in the law, there is growing impatience among the public and stock market for the announcement.

JK also emphasized that there was no such thing as an "autopilot" in the outgoing governance.

"We certainly will announce it as soon as possible, it can be today (Oct. 24) or tomorrow (Oct. 25)," he revealed.

The vice president explained that the ministerial cabinet could not be announced shortly as President Jokowi was adopting a cautious approach while selecting the candidates who will serve the country during the next five years.

"We must be able to choose clean and credible ministerial candidates. We do not want to choose corrupt candidates. Instead, we want real professional people, and thus, we are very cautious," he pointed out.

With regard to the candidates age, JK stated that the president will rather select ministers based on their capabilities rather than their age.

"There is no such condition that a minister must be under 60 years," he confirmed.

President Jokowi involved the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) to scrutinize the track records of his prospective ministerial candidates.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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