Supratman Andi Agtas, a member of Prabowo’s Gerindra party, was named minister of law and human rights.
This was Widodo’s fourth cabinet reshuffle in the past 12 months, with analysts saying it was surprising for an outgoing leader to make significant cabinet changes so close to the end of his term.
This reshuffle was likely to serve as a “foundation for the next administration,” said Wasisto Raharjo Jati, a political analyst with the Jakarta-based National Research and Innovation Agency.
“It seems to be an effort that will help serve Prabowo’s main programmes and campaign pledges,” Wasisto said.
Widodo named Dadan Hindayana, a professor, as chief of the newly created national nutrition agency that is set to oversee one of Prabowo’s campaign promises, a scheme – seen by many as excessive – to provide 83 million Indonesian schoolchildren with free meals.
The programme is estimated to cost 71 trillion rupiah (US$4.4 billion) in 2025 and up to US$27 billion annually when fully implemented by 2029.
Last month, Widodo also appointed two members of Prabowo’s inner circle as deputy ministers in his cabinet, including Prabowo’s nephew, Thomas Djiwandono, as second deputy finance minister and Sudaryono, a senior member of the Gerindra party, as deputy agriculture minister.
“The appointments of these ministers … and agency heads are necessary to facilitate a smooth, orderly and effective government transition,” coordinator of the president’s special staff, Ari Dwipayana, said in a statement on Monday.
Prabowo’s landslide victory in February’s general election has largely been attributed to tacit support from Widodo, who is completing his constitutional two-term mandate. Prabowo’s running mate was Widodo’s eldest son, a former mayor of Surakarta, Gibran Rakabuming Raka.
Alexander Arifianto, a senior fellow and coordinator of the Indonesia programme at S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, said the appointments by Widodo were to signal to prospective investors and stakeholders that there would be a “smooth transition between the two regimes”.
“These appointments are unlikely to last only two months … it is likely that these names will still be around when Prabowo draws up his cabinet,” Arifianto added.
Observers say that the timing of the cabinet reshuffle is also an effort by Widodo, known popularly as Jokowi, to assert his continued influence during the impending leadership transition.
Noticeably, several ministers from the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lost their cabinet positions including Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly and Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arifin Tasrif.
According to Wasisto, there was an expectation that several PDI-P members would be booted out of the cabinet due to the growing rift between Widodo and the ruling party.
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Arifianto concurred, saying that the reshuffle also reflected a “clean break” between Widodo and the PDI-P after Widodo lent his tacit support to Prabowo in the election.
“Jokowi has rearranged the deck to diminish PDI-P’s influence in the cabinet,” said Arifianto, who pointed out that there was an expectation that the PDI-P would play the opposition role under Prabowo’s administration.
The PDI-P was the biggest victor of February’s legislative election, with 16.72 per cent of the vote and winning 110 out of 580 seats in the House of Representatives.
Wasisto said it was unusual to see an outgoing leader make so many cabinet changes.
“In the past, this would not happen within the last six months,” he said. “Ideally, it would have been best to keep the current formation [in the cabinet] to show stability so this is surprising to see.”
Arifianto said this might be an effort by the current administration to quell critics who have said Prabowo would be a very different leader and make significant changes to Widodo’s policies.
“These appointments may refute these assertions and show there will be continuity between the outgoing and incoming administrations,” he said.