Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - According to media reports, Indonesian President Joko Widodo is generally expected to announce a cabine...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - According to media reports, Indonesian President Joko Widodo is generally expected to announce a cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday, with the commerce ministry among the ministerial roles slated to be replaced.
In recent days, rumours of a ministry reshuffle have increased, especially after many ministers were invited to the presidential palace on Tuesday.
According to sources cited by the Koran Tempo newspaper, a cabinet reshuffle will be announced on Wednesday afternoon. However, Reuters was unable to immediately authenticate the information.
Tuesday saw the summoning of the Coordinating Economics Minister Airlangga Hartarto, the Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi, and the Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister Sofyan Djalil to the palace.
In addition to cabinet members, the leader of the National Mandate Party, Zulkifli Hasan, and the former military chief, Hadi Tjahjanto, were also summoned.
According to analysts, the commerce minister could be among those dismissed as a result of political pressure over the administration of efforts to curb a rise in domestic cooking oil.
After imposing an unexpected export embargo on palm oil in April, Minister Lutfi blamed a "palm oil mafia" for undermining efforts to control cooking oil prices.
The export embargo, which has since been removed, shook global markets and resulted in a string of arrests for alleged misconduct.
Political commentators speculate that the president may also choose a member of the National Mandate Party (PAN), which joined the government coalition earlier this year.
63.1 percent of respondents supported a plan to reorganise the present cabinet, according to a Charta Politika survey conducted between 25 May and 2 June and released on Monday.
