Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has informed that he will carry out a cabinet reshuffle soon, especially following Zainudin Amali’s resignation as Youth and Sports Minister, which has left one ministerial post vacant.
"Soon," he said in response to a reporter's question on whether or not there would be a reshuffle, in Maros District, South Sulawesi, on Tuesday.
When asked for a specific timeline for the cabinet reshuffle, the President again replied, “soon.”
On March 9, Amali officially stepped down as the Youth and Sports Minister after his resignation letter was received by the President.
Amali, a cadre of the Party of Functional Groups (Golkar), said he resigned because he wanted to focus on managing the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI).
He was elected as vice chairman I of the PSSI at the association's extraordinary congress in February.
President Jokowi then appointed Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture, Muhadjir Effendy, as the acting minister of youth and sports.
At the end of last year, Jokowi had hinted that he will reshuffle his cabinet after the National Democratic (Nasdem) Party, one of the government’s coalition parties, declared that it will nominate former Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan as its presidential candidate in the 2024 general elections.
In addition to the youth and sports minister post, the Onward Indonesia Cabinet has several vacant seats for deputy ministers, including deputy ministers for social affairs, energy and mineral resources, investment, and national development planning/deputy head of Bappenas.
The seats for deputy ministers for bureaucratic reform; education, culture, research, and technology; cooperatives and small and medium enterprises; industry; and public work and public housing are also lying vacant.
Earlier, Jokowi had said that political considerations could influence his decision to reshuffle the Onward Indonesia Cabinet, but they would not be the main factor.
"The main factor is (the minister's) work performance," he stated after attending the Indonesian Solidarity Party's (PSI's) 8th anniversary commemoration on January 31.
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