Starting Points: Cabinet

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Jul 3, 2010

Super Size Cabinet

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The President appoints three more deputy ministers, making his cabinet the largest since the New Order era.

DIRECTOR-General of Higher Education Fasli Jalal picked up the phone in his office, Thursday two weeks ago. On the other end of the line was Minister/State Secretary Sudi Silalahi, who asked Fasli to report to President Yudhoyono. “I was told to bring along my CV,” he said. Monday afternoon, last week, Fasli drove to the Presidential Palace after reporting to his superior, Muhammad Nuh. At the Palace, this alumni of Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA, received word from the President that he was about to become Deputy Minister of Education.

Fahmi’s inauguration took place at the State Palace, Wednesday last week. Aside from Fahmi, President Yudhoyono also inaugurated the Deputy State National Development Planning Minister for the Funding Division Lukita Dinarsyah Tuwo, and Secretary-General of the Defense Department Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, each serving as deputy minister in their corresponding government bodies. The deputy ministers’ inauguration was held at the same time with the inauguration of Dipo Alam—Deputy of the Coordinating Minister for the Economy—as the Minister/Cabinet Secretary, a position which had previously been left vacant ever since Sudi Silalahi, moved to the State Secretariat.

Minister of Education Muhammad Nuh warmly welcomed Fasli, his new deputy. “He would surely help me in doing my work,” said the former Minister of Communication & Information. Fasli has been around in the Education Department for a while. He joined the department a decade ago, as a senior staff who served under Minister Yahya Muhaimin during Abdurrahman Wahid’s presidency, leading a number of directorates general. When drafting began for the United Indonesia Cabinet II, Fasli was one of the most favored candidates nominated to replace the predecessor, Bambang Sudibyo.

Like Nuh, Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro was delighted with Sjafrie’s appointment. “In my opinion, there has to be a deputy minister because we have lots of work and budget,” said this Minister of Energy & Mineral Resources from 2000-2009. According to him, Sjafrie will deal with matters related to the army and police, including foreign affairs whenever the minister is unavailable. Former Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono considers Sjafrie as the right man for the job due to his knowledge of military techniques.

Following the president’s announcement of his cabinet members last October, Nuh and Purnomo were among the ones who received the most attention because they were considered as not having enough experience to be placed in their positions. Politics observer Arbi Sanit thinks that Nuh’s experience—despite he once became a dean—is still insufficient. “He was chosen due to his closeness to SBY, he has no outstanding qualities,” said Arbi. While Jaleswari Pramowardhani, a military observer from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, thinks that Purnomo has a technocratic tendency and lacks military knowledge. “He did serve as deputy chair of the National Resilience Institute in 1998, but things are different now,” she said.

Deputy appointments for these two ministers raises suspicion that the president wants to provide some cover for his less capable cabinet members. However, the president has come up with his own answer. President Yudhoyono said the deputy minister appointment for some departments was based on the consideration of the heavy workload and the target of his current cabinet. According to SBY, he expects the Deputy Minister of Defense to help formulate policies and defense strategies, as well as modernize the defense system primary tools. As for the Deputy Minister of Education, SBY expects him to help with the education reforms.

Deputy minister appointment is the president’s privilege as mentioned in the State Department Law No. 39/2008. Its Article 10 says, “In case of heavy workloads which require special treatment, the president may appoint deputy ministers for corresponding deprtments.” Member of the House of Representatives (DPR) Agun Gunandjar Sudarsa said that the deputy minister appointments might actually help with the overgrown bureaucracy in several departments. “There are departments that have more than ten Echelon 1 officers,” said the Chairman of the State Department Law Special Committee.

Last week’s three deputy ministers appointment was the third wave of similar actions. Triyono Wibowo, appointed as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in September 11, 2008, was the first. Slightly different from the two following appointments, Triyono—then the Ambassador for the Republic of Austria and the Republic of Slovenia, and also acted as a UN Representative in Vienna—was appointed by Minister Hassan Wirajuda in the Department’s office at Pejambon, Central Jakarta.

In the second wave in November 11, 2009, more deputy ministers were appointed: Bayu Krisnamurti (Deputy Minister of Agriculture), Bambang Susantono (Deputy Minister of Transportation), Mahendra Siregar (Deputy Minister of Trade), Alex Retraubun (Deputy Minister of Industry), and Hermando Dardak (Deputy Minister of Public Works). That time, the President also appointed Gita Wirjawan as Chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board. It means the United Indonesia Cabinet II now has nine deputy ministers.

According to plan, the number should have grown to 11, had the President inaugurated Fahmi Idris as Deputy Minister of Health and Anggito Abimanyu as Deputy Minister of Finance. Appointments for the 2006-2009 Chairman of the Indonesian Medical Association and Chairman of Fiscal Policy Board of the Department of Finance were cancelled due to administrative reasons. According to the Minister/State Secretary Sudi Silalahi, the two candidates have not met the requirement of occupying an Echelon 1-A structural position. “If that has not been fulfilled, we cannot proceed. We do not want to break the rules,” he said. Sudi offered no explanation on when the two would be inaugurated either.

Even as it is only an administrative one, politics observer Eep Saefulloh Fatah said the mistake is serious and fatal. “The president is reckless when taking such important policies,” he said. A day before the intended appointments, presidential spokesperson Julian Aldrin Pasha revealed the appointment plans to reporters. Although he mentioned no specific name, Julian nodded when Tempo asked him whether Fahmi Idris and Anggito Abimanyu were amongst the list. According to Julian, the deputy minister candidates have signed their performance contracts and integrity pacts.

On the deputy minister appointments, Eep thinks of it as a proof of the president’s lack of commitment towards bureaucracy reforms. “This is the most overcrowded cabinet in the reform era. It even has more people than the entire New Order cabinets,” he said. This deputy minister appointment is a different matter compared to when Suharto appointed his junior ministers. Junior minister was a position formed in preparation of a new department. For example, Cosmas Batubara was appointed Junior Minister of Public Housing before he occupied the position as minister in the next period.

According to Eep, there are some positions which actually require deputy ministers, like the Department of Defense and the Department of Finance. The many deputy ministers today shows that there is no clear criteria as to which department requires one. He further added that if such notion continues, soon there would be no reason not to appoint deputy minister in every department. “This is a fatal political mistake, one which clearly shows the President’s terrible imagination. His creativity is questionable,” he said.

As Eep said, the president is facing multiple choices. Included in his array of choices are the options to select between a competent, but non-partisan individual, a partisan individual who is also competent, or whether to adopt accommodation politics. “But the President could not decide between the three options,” he said. It later resulted in an overcrowded cabinet.

Constitutional law expert Irman Putra Sidin said that an overcrowded cabinet goes against the spirit of decentralization. “An officer who finds little to do in Jakarta will be looking for work, like getting his hands on something which should have been the portion of the regional administration,” he said.

Adek Media, Gunanto, Cornila Desyana

Jan 17, 2010

As Holbrooke bolsters Karzai, parliament again rejects many of his cabinet picks

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By Keith B. Richburg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, January 17, 2010; A18

KABUL -- Richard C. Holbrooke, the Obama administration's special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said Saturday that it is time to "move on" from last year's fraud-marred presidential election and any lingering questions about the legitimacy of President Hamid Karzai's government.

But just minutes before Holbrooke met with reporters at the heavily fortified U.S. Embassy compound here, the newly assertive Afghan parliament delivered Karzai another political setback by voting to reject more than half of his second slate of cabinet nominees.

The parliament had earlier rejected 70 percent of the president's cabinet choices, deeming many of them either too closely aligned with Afghanistan's former guerrilla commanders, or warlords, or not sufficiently qualified to lead the ministries for which they were nominated.

In the latest vote, the parliament rejected 10 of Karzai's picks while approving seven, thus leaving about a third of the 24 cabinet jobs unfilled. Among those rejected were two of three female nominees.

Holbrooke, arriving from Pakistan on his sixth visit to the region as special representative, dismissed the development as "an internal matter" and called the nominees who were confirmed "excellent." He was in time for the vote approving Zalmay Rassoul for the post of foreign minister and was among the first to shake his hand.

"This is a government we can work with, and look forward to working with," Holbrooke said.

He also disputed the suggestion that last year's election, in which Karzai's closest challenger withdrew from a planned runoff amid widespread charges of voting irregularities, had left a cloud over the president's legitimacy.

"The government is legitimate," Holbrooke said, calling Karzai "the legitimately chosen, legitimate leader of this country."

"I honestly believe it's time to move on, and get on with why we're here," he added, noting that much of 2009 had been consumed by the election and by the deteriorating security situation, which prompted President Obama to launch a wide-ranging review of the United States' Afghanistan policy. The review culminated in a December announcement that 30,000 additional U.S. troops and more civilian aid workers would be sent to the country.

"The troops have begun to arrive," Holbrooke said. "It's a very important symbol of our commitment." He also said the civilian surge was an equally important, if often underreported, part of the new policy.

But the continuing instability in Afghanistan was underscored by fresh reports of violence in the south, particularly in the volatile Helmand province, where the U.S. troop surge is concentrated. Two British soldiers were reported killed by an explosion in Helmand on Friday while on foot patrol. On Saturday, NATO and Afghan troops came under fire from Taliban insurgents attacking from two positions; the foreign troops called for air support and said a missile was fired at a Taliban position.

Also in Helmand, NATO reported that an overnight raid Friday in Nad Ali district killed 11 insurgents and led to the discovery of a weapons cache, a trove of black tar opium and equipment used to make roadside bombs.

Insurgents, meanwhile, fired a rocket into Kabul on Friday night. It landed near the German Embassy, injuring a security guard.

On Saturday, NATO said a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan earlier in the day killed one of its soldiers, but the alliance gave no details.

Holbrooke said one of the United States' key goals is to aggressively support Karzai's initiative to open talks with moderate Taliban elements in hopes of drawing them away from the insurgency.

"There is no vehicle for them to come in from the cold right now," Holbrooke said, adding: "This has got to be an Afghan-led program, but we're ready to support it."

Jan 9, 2010

New Afghan Cabinet Picks Still Generate Resistance

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By ALISSA J. RUBIN and SANGAR RAHIMI

KABUL, Afghanistan — President Hamid Karzai made a second effort to fill his cabinet on Saturday, nominating 16 new ministers a week after Parliament had rejected most of his first choices.

But several Parliament members said they were as unimpressed by the new slate, which included many political unknowns, as they were with the first one. Their displeasure could prolong the stalemate that has left Afghanistan without a fully functional government since the widely criticized presidential election last summer.

Also on Saturday, Afghan officials signed an agreement that will allow the American military to begin the process of transferring responsibility for the notorious prison at Bagram Air Base to Afghan control.

When Parliament rejected 17 of Mr. Karzai’s first batch of 24 nominees, the move was hailed by some analysts as a sign of the legislature’s newfound independence.

The legislators asked that Mr. Karzai choose more technocrats who had expertise in the work of the ministries they were nominated to lead.

The new slate includes a number of highly educated nominees and three women, an increase over the first list and a point praised by several Parliament members. But they said the new list still depended too heavily on political ties to Mr. Karzai and not enough on competence.

“This is the same as the previous list,” said Mir Ahmed Joyenda, an independent Parliament member from Kabul, whose views echoed those of several Parliament members interviewed. “It is like a limited company and those people who have supported Mr. Karzai, they each have a share.

“They introduced new names, maybe they have higher education, but are not known to the people and do not have expertise in their ministries,” he said.

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Another Parliament member, Daoud Sultanzoi from Ghazni, a predominantly Pashtun area, also cited a lack of substantive expertise. “In Afghanistan we need more than political confidants in these jobs, we need people who can build those ministries.”

He cited Mr. Karzai’s nominee for transportation minister, who he said was a hydroelectric engineer. “This is a ministry where we cannot afford to lose time,” he said. “We’re losing a lot of revenue in that ministry, aviation is a shambles, road transport is a shambles, so we need someone who can do that job, who knows about those specific areas.”

In contrast, the main Uzbek party, Junbish-e-Milli, which is allied with the former commander Abdul Rashid Dostum, said it was satisfied with the new list and hoped that it would be approved.

“All the tribes living in Afghanistan can see their presence in this list,” said Sayed Noorullah Sadat, a leader of Mr. Dostum’s party.

“We are happy with the ethnic distribution of posts; however, we were happy with the previous cabinet as well, but unfortunately they couldn’t get the vote of confidence,” he said.

Two Hazara members of Parliament agreed that the ethnic mix was representative, but that many of the nominees were unknown. “Still they are better than the old portraits who now hold the posts,” said Abbas Nooyan from Kabul.

The agreement on Bagram, signed by the Afghan ministries of Defense and Justice, clears the way for the American military to begin a program of training and preparation for the Afghans to take charge of the prison, which houses more than 700 detainees captured by the American military.

Initially, the Defense Ministry will run the center, but it will eventually be handed over to the Justice Ministry, which oversees jails and prisons, said Col. Stephen Clutter, the spokesman for American detainee operations in Afghanistan.

The prison was notorious for its conditions in the early years of the war, with hundreds of detainees held in cages and subjected to abuse and harsh conditions. A new prison was opened two months ago, improving conditions, although detainees there still have no right to a lawyer and can be held indefinitely without charge.

Three NATO service members were killed in the last two days, according to a NATO spokesman. One, who had been wounded by a bomb in southern Afghanistan, died Saturday. The other two died Friday, one when he was struck by a bomb in southern Afghanistan and the other from injuries from a vehicle accident.

In Herat, insurgents attacked a building on Saturday that was recently acquired by the United States government as a consular office. They fired at least one rocket that damaged the third floor.

A major raid by NATO troops in a rural district of Kandahar Province captured more than three tons of illegal drugs in a truck, including more than 5,300 pounds of processed opium, more than 1,000 pounds of wet opium paste and about 50 pounds of heroin, according to a NATO spokesman in Kabul.

Jan 2, 2010

Karzai Choices for Afghan Cabinet Are Mostly Rejected

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By ALISSA J. RUBIN

KABUL, Afghanistan — In a clear signal to President Hamid Karzai that he cannot count on Parliament for support, lawmakers resoundingly rejected most of his nominees for cabinet posts and expressed discontent with the candidates’ competence.

Of Mr. Karzai’s 24 cabinet nominees, 17 were rejected and 7 approved. Of those who received votes of confidence, all but one are currently cabinet ministers.

The president’s office had no comment on Saturday’s vote; the deputy spokesman, Hamid Elmi, said a news conference would be held on Sunday.

After being declared the winner of an election tainted by fraud, Mr. Karzai has been under pressure from Western leaders and Afghan opposition figures to help make things right by choosing cabinet officials not linked to corruption or incompetence. Parliament’s action on Saturday made it clear that they felt he had not met those requirements.

In particular, they said that they were not consulted enough during the nomination process and that many cabinet nominees lacked the professional backgrounds necessary to do their jobs. However, ethnic politics were also in play, raising questions about whether lawmakers were primarily interested in being partisan defenders of their own ethnic constituencies, though many denied that that was a factor.

“The members of the Parliament cast their vote based on merit, not based on tribal or ideology or factional interests,” said Kabir Rangbar, an independent member from Kabul. “This is a reaction against Karzai’s choices.”

The effects of the move were difficult to predict, since it is possible that Mr. Karzai will try to make recess appointments once Parliament leaves for its winter break. But over all, it suggested a deepening divide between the president and Parliament. And it could also leave a number of ministries adrift, under the uncertain leadership of deputy ministers who lack political power.

“The significance of the rejection has to do with politics and Karzai’s failure to build a cabinet that spoke to a wide enough spectrum of people, and also with the weakening of his political machine,” said Alex Thier, the director of the Pakistan-Afghanistan program at the United States Institute of Peace, a Washington-based research group.

Of those confirmed, four were Pashtuns, one Tajik, one Uzbek and one Sadat. The only woman to be nominated was turned down, as were a Turkmen and three Hazara candidates. In all, seven ministers who were nominated for second terms were voted down, including the ministers of public health, telecommunications and counternarcotics.

Five of the most prominent and successful ministers during Mr. Karzai’s first term, the defense, interior, finance, education and agriculture ministers, were endorsed for second terms. They were also the ministers, with one exception, who had strong American backing, according to people close to the process.

A spokeswoman for the American Embassy issued a noncommittal statement supporting Parliament’s right to vet candidates, but did not make detailed comments on specific candidates.

Shukria Barakzai, a member of Parliament from Kabul, said she observed opposition to nominees who represented political parties. She noted that Ismail Khan, a powerful member of the Jamiat Party and a former commander from the western province of Herat, was rejected, while the former commerce minister Mohammed Sharwani, an Uzbek, who is viewed as an independent, was confirmed as the minister of mines. Similarly, the finance minister, Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal, who is viewed as independent, was endorsed for a second term.

“Those who came as a representative of a group, they failed,” Ms. Barakzai said. “I hope it will be a good lesson for President Karzai that when the issue of reform comes, he is not alone; the members of Parliament really want reform. It was the moderates and the technocrats who got the vote of confidence.”

Fatima Aziz, a Tajik who represents the northern province of Kunduz, differed from her colleagues in saying that she thought ethnicity had played a part in the votes. She said she was disappointed that several nominees from minorities had not done well.

Of the 246 Parliament members, 232 were present, which meant that each minister had to get at least 117 votes to win approval. The voting was by secret ballot. Notably, none of the ministers received ringing endorsements; not one received even two-thirds of the votes, and some were confirmed by barely a handful of votes.

Several lawmakers said that over all, they thought the voting and the rejection represented a new era for Parliament and one in which they were better representing their constituents.

“It’s very essential to bring or to make a balance between the power of the president and the power of the Parliament,” Mr. Rangbar said. “The voice of the people had been widely ignored before, but today Parliament members showed with full confidence they are speaking for their constituents.”

Sangar Rahimi contributed reporting.

Dec 18, 2009

Karzai's New Cabinet: Reform but No Clean Sweep

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KABUL (AP) -- Facing huge pressure to reform, President Hamid Karzai is submitting a Cabinet lineup to Parliament on Saturday that keeps U.S. favorites in several posts critical to the war and reconstruction -- a nod to American demands for trusted hands to help manage the conflict.

The new list also reflects Karzai's need to serve a second master -- political allies, including warlords, that kept him in power.

World leaders have threatened to hold back troops and development aid if Karzai does not cleanse his government of corruption and mismanagement.

But some Afghan lawmakers said the lineup looked too much like the existing one.

They said it signaled more of the same from a government which has been criticized as ineffective and corrupt. These lawmakers also expressed concern that a few of Karzai's new nominees -- they did not say whom -- were chosen because of links to political bosses or warlords.

Several of the new appointments have previous government experience and good educational credentials. It's unclear, though, whether they will clean up the bribery and graft that has become business as usual in the government. As with Karzai's first Cabinet, the new slate of proposed ministers is a collection of Western-educated Afghans and former mujahedeen or their nominees.

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''Nothing has changed,'' said Mirahmad Joyanda, a member of parliament from Kabul.

He and other members of parliament point to Karzai's decision to retain Water and Energy Minister Ismail Khan, a notorious warlord who holds political sway in the Herat region of western Afghanistan. Human Rights Watch has accused Khan of war crimes during Afghanistan's past quarter-century of conflict.

Joyanda was at the presidential palace on Thursday when Karzai spoke to about 100 lawmakers about various issues, including his Cabinet picks. When he heard the names, Joyanda said he became discouraged and walked out of the meeting.

''Nothing is new,'' he said. ''Half of the Cabinet remains. The other half is introduced by warlords.''

According to the list, however, Karzai wants to jettison the heads of two ministries embroiled in corruption probes.

Karzai wants to replace Muhammad Ibrahim Adel, the current minister of mines. Earlier this month, two U.S. officials in Washington alleged that Adel took a $20 million bribe to steer a $3 billion copper mining project to a Chinese company. The minister denied taking any bribes, saying the agreement was approved by the Cabinet and that Karzai was also aware of it.

The president also wants to replace Sediq Chakari, who heads the Ministry of Hajj and Mosque. Allegations surfaced recently that money was pocketed at the ministry. Chakari, who has denied involvement, said two of his employees were being investigated in connection with missing money.

Including Khan, Karzai wants to keep 12 of his 25 ministers in their jobs for now, according to three Afghan government officials, who divulged the list to The Associated Press on Friday on condition of anonymity because it had not been formally announced.

They said Karzai wants to retain the minister of foreign affairs and the ministers of defense and interior, which oversee the Afghan army and police. Karzai's proposed Cabinet list also includes the current ministers of finance, public health and agriculture, which receive billions of dollars in international aid.

A senior international official in Kabul, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the Cabinet, said the diplomatic and aid communities likely would react positively to Karzai's decision to retain these six key members of the Cabinet.

Karzai also wants the ministers of justice, education, women's affairs, communications and counternarcotics to stay on the job, the Afghan government officials said.

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul withheld comment.

''We're awaiting an official announcement and want to see that the nominations put forward reflect President Karzai's stated commitment to good governance and integrity and professionalism within his Cabinet,'' U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said.

That was the promise Karzai made when he was sworn in for a second term last month following a fraud-tainted presidential election.

''The ministers of Afghanistan must possess integrity and be professionals serving the nation,'' Karzai said.

His image suggested otherwise. Standing at Karzai's side on that day were his two vice presidents -- Mohammad Qasim Fahim and Karim Khalili -- both former warlords widely believed to have looted Afghanistan for years. Karzai likely put them on his ticket to win votes from their minority ethnic communities.

Parwin Durani, a member of parliament, estimated that a third of the lawmakers at the palace meeting were unhappy that Karzai's list did not include more new faces.

She said Karzai told the lawmakers that while they had the power to seat the Cabinet, he would face pressure from the international community if they rejected certain nominees. Durani also said Karzai indicated that he might change some ministers in three months, which would be after an international conference on the way forward in Afghanistan being held Jan. 28 in London.

Sep 16, 2009

Japan sees historic change, Hatoyama elected prime minister, forms DPJ-led Cabinet - Daily Yomiuri)

Democratic Party of Japan leader Yukio Hatoyama, standing, bows as he is applauded by fellow lawmakers after he was elected the nation's 60th prime minister at the House of Representatives plenary session Wednesday.

Democratic Party of Japan President Yukio Hatoyama was elected the nation's 60th prime minister in a special Diet session convened Wednesday. He officially announced the lineup of his Cabinet later in the day.

Hatoyama formed the nation's 93rd cabinet, which was then sworn in at an attestation ceremony at the Imperial Palace, launching the DPJ-led government in coalition with the Social Democratic Party and the People's New Party.

It is the first time for the Liberal Democratic Party to hand over the reins of government in 16 years.

The 172nd Diet session was convened Wednesday, with the session to run through Saturday.

Hatoyama was named prime minister at the plenary session of the House of Representatives that started at 1 p.m. and then at the House of Councillors plenary session that started at 2:30 p.m.--in each case by a majority vote including votes by the SDP and PNP members.

Before Hatoyama was named prime minister at the lower house, the DPJ's Takahiro Yokomichi was elected the speaker of the lower house and former Defense Minister Seishiro Eto of the LDP was elected the vice speaker.

With regard to the Cabinet posts, DPJ Acting President Naoto Kan was named deputy prime minister and national strategy minister. Kan also will serve as the state minister in charge of economic and fiscal policy until the government abolishes the existing Council on Fiscal and Economic Policy.

Hatoyama appointed Hirofumi Hirano, chief of the DPJ executives secretariat, as chief cabinet secretary, and former party Secretary General Katsuya Okada as foreign minister.

DPJ Vice President Seiji Maehara was named construction and transport minister and will also serve as state minister for disaster management and Okinawa and the northern territories. Akira Nagatsuma, acting chairman of the DPJ Policy Research Committee, was appointed health, labor and welfare minister.

Other DPJ members who were given portfolios included the party's top adviser Hirohisa Fujii, who was named finance minister; party Vice President Tatsuo Kawabata who became education, science and technology minister; and Kazuhiro Haraguchi who was chosen as internal affairs and communications minister. Hatoyama appointed upper house member Keiko Chiba as justice minister. Policy Research Committee Chairman Masayuki Naoshima was given the post of economy, trade and industry minister, and Vice President Toshimi Kitazawa was named defense minister.

The posts of deputy chief cabinet secretaries for parliamentary affairs were given to Yorihisa Matsuno from the lower house, and Koji Matsui from the upper house.

From the DPJ's coalition partners, SDP leader Mizuho Fukushima entered the Cabinet as state minister in charge of consumer affairs and the declining birthrate. Fukushima's portfolio as state minister also covers gender equality and food safety issues.

Under a ruling coalition agreement, PNP leader Shizuka Kamei was named state minister in charge of financial services and postal reform.

Former Justice Minister Hiroshi Nakai was named chairman of the National Public Safety Commission and state minister in charge of abduction issues.

Former Policy Research Committee Chairman Yoshito Sengoku was appointed state minister in charge of the newly established administrative renewal council.

===

Aso Cabinet resigns

The Cabinet of Prime Minister Taro Aso resigned Wednesday, ending its administration about a year after it was formed in September last year.

At a press conference held after a special Cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's Office, Aso said the new government should promote economic measures and making a contribution to the international community.

"The economic recovery is only halfway through. I hope [the new government] makes an effort to solidify the economic recovery. I greatly hope it will appropriately deal with terrorism, piracy" and other international issues, he said.

Looking back over his 358 days as prime minister, Aso said, "It was a short period of time, but I did my best for Japan."

"I was able to respond promptly to a global recession said to be the worst in a century. I think I can be proud of myself for implementing drastic economic measures, such as compiling four budgets," he said.

Referring to the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election to be held Sept. 28, Aso said: "We should unite [the party]. Someone who can do the job based on an analysis of what the problem was for the LDP" is desirable as the new party leader.

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NEW CABINET (Sept. 16, 2009)

Prime Minister / Yukio Hatoyama, 62

Deputy Prime Minister and National Strategy Minister / Naoto Kan, 62

Internal Affairs and Communications Minister / Kazuhiro Haraguchi, 50

Justice Minister / Keiko Chiba, 61

Foreign Minister / Katsuya Okada, 56

Finance Minister / Hirohisa Fujii, 77

Education, Science and Technology Minister / Tatsuo Kawabata, 64

Health, Labor and Welfare Minister / Akira Nagatsuma, 49

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister / Hirotaka Akamatsu, 61

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister / Masayuki Naoshima, 63

Construction and Transport Minister / Seiji Maehara, 47

Environment Minister / Sakihito Ozawa, 55

Defense Minister / Toshimi Kitazawa, 71

Chief Cabinet Secretary / Hirofumi Hirano, 60

National Public Safety Commission Chairman / Hiroshi Nakai, 67

State Minister in Charge of Financial Services and Postal Reform / Shizuka Kamei, 72*

State Minister in Charge of Consumer Affairs and Declining Birthrate / Mizuho Fukushima, 53**

Administrative Renewal Minister / Yoshito Sengoku, 63

(* People's New Party, ** Social Democratic Party)

(Sep. 16, 2009)

Aug 27, 2009

Forget Politics and Just Make New Ministers Professional, Survey Says - The Jakarta Globe

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It is often said that politics and religion are subjects to avoid at all costs. And it seems that most believe the two should also be avoided in government, according to the results of a poll by the Indonesian Survey Institute released on Thursday.

Upon being asked which were the most important criteria for selecting ministers in President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s new government, respondents overwhelmingly avoided politicians and religious figures.

In the poll of 1,270 people, 78.3 percent of respondents said professional qualifications were the most important factor for selecting ministers, rather than their political, religious, ethnic or regional affiliations.

Only 22.7 percent of respondents said they believed ministers should be selected based
on their political leanings, according to Dodi Ambardi, the director of the institute, also known as the LSI. The survey was conducted from July 18 to 28 among respondents selected using multistage random sampling techniques. The margin of error was 2.8 percentage points.

Nearly 74 percent of respondents who live in provincial villages and 85.2 percent of residents in urban areas and cities wanted professionals to sit in the next cabinet. Only 11.5 percent of respondents said it was acceptable if ministers came from certain political parties or religious groups.

“This has proven that the people of Indonesia expect Yudhoyono to choose qualified professionals in forming his cabinet,” Dodi said.

He said that even respondents from Java, home to about half of the country’s population, viewed professional qualifications as more important than adhering to the traditional model, which has seen proportional numbers of Javanese and non-Javanese ministers appointed.

J Kristiadi, a political analyst from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said candidates should have expertise in the government ministry they were nominated for, strong ethics and social responsibility.

He said that even if cabinet seats had to be divided among political parties that were part of Yudhoyono’s coalition, the candidates should still have professional skills in their nominated field.

“We demand Yudhoyono, who won more than 60 percent of the vote in the election, use his [mandate] to choose the right people,” Kristiadi said.

Ichsan Mojo, an economist from the Institute for the Development of Economics and Finance, said it would be virtually impossible for the president to choose a cabinet without having representatives from political parties.

However, he said he hoped that two key ministerial posts, industry and agriculture, would be given to qualified, apolitical professionals.

“Those posts are in the real sectors, so if it’s not a professional who holds the position, we can’t expect much from them in terms of handling problems like economic growth, poverty and unemployment,” he said.

Aug 8, 2009

Conservatives Warn Ahmadinejad Not to Defy Ayatollah on Cabinet Picks

By ROBERT F. WORTH and NAZILA FATHI

BEIRUT, Lebanon — In a sign of persistent divisions in Iran’s hard-line political camp, a coalition of major conservative parties issued an unusually blunt open letter to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday, warning him not to disregard the supreme leader and other senior figures as he chooses his new cabinet.

The letter, coming two days after Mr. Ahmadinejad was sworn in for a second term, makes clear that he faces a serious challenge in uniting his own supporters, even as a broad opposition movement continues to maintain that his landslide re-election on June 12 was rigged. The group that issued the letter, which includes 14 conservative parties and leaders influential in Iran’s traditional businesses, endorsed Mr. Ahmadinejad in the election.

The letter is the latest repercussion from a fracas last month in which Mr. Ahmadinejad shocked conservatives by ignoring a command from the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to rescind the controversial appointment of a top presidential deputy. The deputy, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, finally withdrew from that position, and Mr. Ahmadinejad promptly reappointed him as his chief of staff.

The letter issued Friday told Mr. Ahmadinejad that the public, the clergy and the political elite found “shocking” his decisions regarding Mr. Mashaei, whose daughter is married to Mr. Ahmadinejad’s son, and warned him to change his approach.

“If, God forbid, you fail to consult with supporters of the revolution and pursue a path that is not in line with the leadership, if you become too confident with the people’s vote, you may lose people’s confidence and we fear that you might inflict unprecedented damage on the establishment and jeopardize cooperation with Parliament and the judiciary,” the letter said, according to copies provided to Web sites and Iranian news agencies.

The letter urged the president to “avoid this turmoil” by being more sensitive than before in making cabinet choices and consulting with senior figures.

In his inauguration speech on Wednesday, Mr. Ahmadinejad hinted that he saw the record voter turnout in the election as a popular mandate to pursue his policy goals more aggressively.

Other conservative groups have criticized Mr. Ahmadinejad harshly over his promotion of Mr. Mashaei, who said last year that Iranians were friendly toward “people in every country, even Israelis.” One group suggested that Mr. Ahmadinejad could be removed from office.

Analysts say Mr. Ahmadinejad was trying to project political strength in his promotion of Mr. Mashaei, who is part of a group of advisers and loyalists he has relied on since his early days in politics. But many Iranians were baffled by the president’s willingness to defy Ayatollah Khamenei, who wields final authority on matters of state and who has provided Mr. Ahmadinejad with crucial political support.

The Iranian police issued a statement to reporters on Friday saying that the people responsible for mistreating prisoners at the controversial Kahrizak detention center, where some protesters were tortured and killed, would be dismissed and punished, Iranian news agencies said. The police statement appeared to undercut a parliamentary investigation of abuses at the detention center, which was closed last month by order of Ayatollah Khamenei.

Also on Friday, Amnesty International said it had recorded an “alarming spike” in state executions in Iran since the election. Iran is second only to China in executions annually.

Robert F. Worth reported from Beirut, and Nazila Fathi from Toronto.

Jul 27, 2009

Two Ministers Forced to Leave Iran's Cabinet

By Thomas Erdbrink
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, July 27, 2009

TEHRAN, July 26 -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fired his intelligence minister and his culture minister resigned under pressure Sunday as further rifts emerged in his camp with just days to go until his controversial inauguration for a second term.

Although Ahmadinejad has frequently replaced his cabinet members over the past four years, Sunday's firing and resignation were significant because both Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei and Culture Minister Mohammad Hossein Saffar Harandi are especially close to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, analysts say.

"All ministers are close to him," said Amir Mohebbian, a political analyst who shares Ahmadinejad's ideology but has been critical of his actions. "But these two are closer to the leader."

Taken together, the moves suggest deep unhappiness within Ahmadinejad's inner circle at a time when the government is still reeling from the impact of a weeks-long campaign by the opposition to overturn the results of June's disputed election, in which Ahmadinejad was declared the winner in a landslide.

While Khamenei openly supported Ahmadinejad in the weeks after the disputed election and the two were tightly aligned with one another during the protests and the subsequent crackdown, some divisions between the men have emerged in recent days.

Sunday's cabinet firing and resignation came just a day after Ahmadinejad was criticized by both the head of the armed forces and an influential ally in parliament for his delay in complying with an order from Khamenei to drop his pick for vice president. Ahmadinejad withdrew Esfandiar Rahim Mashai's name for the position Saturday, a full week after the supreme leader's order. Ahmadinejad subsequently gave Mashai an influential gatekeeper position as head of his presidential office.

The timing of Sunday's departures from the cabinet appeared to be related to Ahmadinejad's decision on Mashai -- both ministers sided with the supreme leader in believing Mashai was not fit for office. Mashai faced criticism last year from Khamenei for saying that Iran was friendly with people of all nations, including those of archenemy Israel.

Mohebbian, the analyst, said the president felt weakened over the forced dismissal of Mashai, and reacted Sunday by forcing out the two cabinet members. "Ahmadinejad is now trying to counter this and wants to show himself as a strong leader," he said. "However, such actions will deal a heavy blow to his position among his supporters."

In another move bound to anger critics, Ahmadinejad appointed the highly controversial Ali Kordan as special inspector Sunday, according to the Mehr news agency. Last year, Kordan was impeached as interior minister after his Oxford law degree turned out to be fake. In his new job, Kordan will investigate cases of corruption and fraud within the government.

The two departures from the cabinet on Sunday mean that 12 out of Ahmadinejad's original 21 cabinet members have either resigned or been fired since 2005. Under the constitution, Ahmadinejad is required to submit his cabinet to a new vote of confidence from the parliament if he has replaced more than half its members. That is unlikely to happen, however, because Ahmadinejad is being sworn in for a second term Aug. 5, and he will have to submit a new cabinet for confirmation by Aug. 28.

In the meantime, Iranian political observers say Ahmadinejad's government will have trouble functioning. The deputy head of the parliament, Mohammad Reza Bahonar, told Mehr that any cabinet meeting would be illegal until the new cabinet is sworn in.

The culture minister's resignation came hours after reports, widely carried by state media but later denied, that Ahmadinejad had fired him. In a statement, he acknowledged Ahmadinejad had tried to force him out.

Members of Iran's opposition expressed indifference to the cabinet moves because they deem the government illegitimate. Morteza Alviri, an aide to defeated candidate Mehdi Karroubi, said the upheaval over Ahmadinejad's cabinet was a plot to divert attention from the disputed election result.

"In order to mask the main point, which is the illegal election result, spectacular side events are created to make people's minds busy," Alviri said in an interview.

Demonstrators faced off with police Sunday after they gathered near the entrance of a mosque in Tehran, witnesses reported. The demonstrators were trying to attend a service in honor of Mohsen Ruholamini, who died in prison after participating in recent protests, but the service was canceled at the last minute.

"We sat in the car and saw people being beaten by a crowd of over 200 members of the security forces," said a witness who declined to give her name. "A plainclothes man and a policeman smashed the windows of another car and took the number plate. It was very scary."