Prabowois Cabinet: The fine art of balancing

The new Indonesian Presidents Cabinet is huge, but then so are his ambitions and the diverse interests that are in play.

- Leonard C. Sebastian

On Oct 20, President Prabowo Subianto named Indonesia's largest-ever Cabinet since 1966. With 109 members - inclusive of ministers, vice-ministers and heads of national agencies - it dwarfs his predecessor loko Widodo's 34-member team.

Why the need for such a plus-size Cabinet? A number of factors are in play.

When former president Sukarno cobbled together his short-lived 132-member Dwikora Cabinet 2, it was done at a time of political and economic turmoil. The circumstances in 2024 are quite different.

In his inaugural speech, Mr Prabowo outlined with optimism a governing vision affixed on the belief that the country's natural endowments, namely its extensive maritime area and natural resource wealth, would become the foundation of a local industrialisation strategy that would enable Indonesia to become one of the world's leading economies.

Given this vision, the "Red and White Cabinet" - named with the colours of the national flag in mind - has a big job on its hands.

To achieve his goal, Mr Prabowo wants to increase annual economic growth to 8 per cent from the current 5 per cent by the end of his five-year term. He also has an ambitious spending programme that includes higher defence spending and pay increases for civil servants, plus a programme to provide free school meals for millions of children as well as nutritional support for pregnant women.

Mr Prabowo has also emphasised in numerous post-election speeches plans to reduce poverty, manage corruption, and improve food and energy self-sufficiency.