Newly inaugurated President Joko Widodo has been busy appointing his ‘Working Cabinet’ - 34 Ministers who will lead government business for the period 2014 - 2019.
The 'Working Cabinet’ has been vetted by Indonesia’s corruption watchdog, the KPK. The KPK advised the President on a shortlist of 80 candidates for the Ministerial positions, from which 10 names were apparently scratched based on the KPK’s advice. The KPK will also be briefing members of the Cabinet on good governance and avoidance of corruption, and Ministers will be required to submit personal wealth reports (see here).
Yasona H. Laoly has been appointed as Minister of Law and Human Rights. It was expected that the post would be filled by a member of the profession (see our post here), but instead the President has chosen a politician. The Minister will be overseeing an important period for intellectual property law, as Indonesia expects the introduction of a new Trademark Law and the Madrid Protocol, and hopes to see IP laws and regulations issued to patch up holes in the existing framework.
Minister for Technology, Research and Higher Education (Muhammad Nasir) has publicly committed to building research and development capabilities in Indonesia, to support industry (see here). This will require significant funding, and to make any meaningful impact the government will first need to address the pressing issue of Indonesia’s fuel subsidy, which currently accounts for 15 - 18% of state spending (see here and here) and is burning a hole in the budget. The President is also aiming for 7% GDP growth, so the ‘Working Cabinet’ certainly has its work cut out!
Interestingly, the position of Attorney-General has not yet been filled (see here) and a Presidential spokesperson has not been appointed - the ever practical President says he’s quite capable of speaking for himself (see here).
(the 'Working Cabinet')