Indonesian President drills Cabinet in teamwork, key policies at 'boot camp'

Analysts see move as an attempt to prevent a silo mentality and unhealthy rivalries

JAKARTA - Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto concluded a military-style boot camp for his Red and White Cabinet on Oct 27, during which he drilled his executive team on his flagship programmes at the country's military academy in a bid to foster teamwork and build a sense of solidarity within the expansive group.

Over 100 of the newly appointed Cabinet members gathered for the four-day retreat at the Military Academy in Magelang, Central Java, where they participated in morning exercises and command drills in matching camouflage outfits and slept in tents.

The Cabinet members also had a series of briefings and back-to-back discussion sessions on subjects ranging from corruption prevention to bureaucracy management. But programmes to achieve food and energy self-sufficiency and Mr Prabowo's downstreaming goals were the top priorities drilled into his ministers.

"All ministries are instructed to support everything that the Agriculture Ministry, as the leading sector, needs to achieve food self-sufficiency within three to four years," State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi told reporters on Oct 27.

"We are an agrarian country. Our land is wide and fertile. We can't depend on other countries when it comes to food," he said.

To achieve energy self-sufficiency, Deputy Agrarian Minister Sudaryono, who goes by one name, planned to utilise the country's abundant natural resources, some of which, such as palm oil and cassava, can be converted into renewable energy. "We are aiming for (energy self-sufficiency), and we can achieve it," Mr Sudaryono said.