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PKS, PPP Tout Records Ahead of Reshuffle
Arientha Primanita & Agus Triyono | October 10, 2011

Indonesian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Tifatul Sembiring (Antara Photo) Indonesian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Tifatul Sembiring (Antara Photo)
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DrDez
6:37am Oct 11, 2011

word in the house is that no PKS member will be sacked - all will retain ministries but some will swap jobs. Why? The PKS have threatened to expose the agreement between themselves and the President made earlier this year - usual source -

I really hope he is wrong but he has a very high hot rate - PS Porno Galaxy Boy is still drawing pay


Roland
11:49pm Oct 10, 2011

For heavens sake. One claims that they are indeed WORKING (!!!) day, night, mornings and even afternoons - all of course God Willing!

Another one claims over his party buddy that the main responsibilities of a religious affairs minister is the hajj pilgrimage and that he's really shining in that job, while others of course say that the very same super duper performance is actually riddled with corruption and inefficiency. And where's the responsibility of the very same minister in regards of sectarian troubles? Or keeping the law up (thinking there about this Bogor church issue where Suryadharma asked the congregation about 4 months ago to have patience, or in regards of the Ahmadis, and so on and on)?

Disgusting bunch, claiming this and that but all there is is just smoke and noises, no performance...


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After Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar defended his achievements last week ahead of the planned cabinet reshuffle, two more controversial ministers started tooting their own horns on Monday.

Communication Minister Tifatul Sembiring said that all four ministers from his Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) had so far been living up to the president’s expectations.

“We have been working like horses,” Tifatul claimed. “We work day, night, morning and afternoon. In terms of our work and loyalty we are fulfilling the people’s expectations, God willing.”

The other PKS ministers are Agricultural Minister Suswono, Social Affairs Minister Salim Segaf Al Jufri and Research and Technology Minister Suharna Surapranata.

Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said that on Sunday, all four PKS ministers were summoned by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to meet him at his private residence in Cikeas, West Java.

Besides the PKS and Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party, the ruling coalition is made up of the Golkar Party, the United Development Party (PPP), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the National Awakening Party (PKB).

Julian said he had no information about when the other coalition partners would be summoned. “But the president felt it was necessary to summon his ministers and that can happen anytime,” he said.

Tifatul said that the president assured the PKS that it would stay in the cabinet after the reshuffle, but there was no guarantee that the current PKS ministers remain unchanged.

“Until last night, the PKS had four seats [in the cabinet]. But we don’t know about later, that is up to the president,” he said. Tifatul stressed however that the PKS would stay in the ruling coalition until the end of the president’s second term, regardless of Yudhoyono’s final decision. “We will remain committed until 2014,” he said.

Separately, the PPP claimed that the president was happy with the performance of Religious Minister Suryadharma Ali, one of two PPP ministers in the current cabinet. The other is Suharso Monoarfa, the housing affairs minister who recently was criticized by the president for his marital problems.

“Based on a survey by the BPS [Central Statistics Agency], 80 percent of the people are happy with the hajj pilgrimage management,” PPP secretary general Muhammad Romahurmuziy said, referring to one of Suryadharma’s main responsibilities.

The Jakarta Globe could not independently confirm whether the BPS had actually released such findings, but antigraft activists have criticized the annual pilgrimage, saying it was plagued with corruption, inefficient spending and poor services.

“Suryadharma’s administration is full of achievements, no doubt about that,” Romahurmuziy said.

Suryadharma has been widely criticized by human rights groups for doing too little to prevent religious violence and for discriminating against minority groups.

During his tenure, there has been frequent harassment of the Muslim minority group Ahmadiyah, and an attack that left three members of the sect dead.

Tifatul has also attracted negative attention with some controversial remarks. He once commented that the 2009 earthquake devastating West Sumatra was a punishment from God and compared a porn video scandal featuring several celebrities to the debate over the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Yudhoyono has indicated the outcome of the reshuffle would be announced before Oct. 20, the cabinet’s second anniversary.

Presidential adviser Daniel Sparingga said on Sunday that the president had finished drafting his new cabinet lineup and would start interviewing candidates. On Thursday night, the president met with Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, the head of the Presidential Working Unit for Development, Supervision and Oversight (UKP4), to receive the body’s evaluation of all ministries and government agencies.

While presidential staff members remained tight-lipped, a senior Democrat hinted at a major shake-up.

Ahmad Mubarok, a member of the party’s leadership board, said Yudhoyono had told him on several occasions that up to half of his ministers had failed to carry out his instructions.

Additional reporting from Ezra Sihite