The Formula for a Thriving Mega Cabinet
What Prabowo’s cabinet needs to do to navigate the chaos of changing structures
President Prabowo’s 109-members cabinet has caught attention since its Inauguration Day announcement. Not only the size, but also the changes it entails.
There are twenty two new ministries (most disjoined from an existing ministry), six new ministry-level institutions, and dozens of new vice-ministry posts. This prompts questions around the dynamic of this cabinet. How will it navigate the foreseen ‘chaotic’ web of admins and bureaucracy? After all, this cabinet is Prabowo’s vessel to deliver his many ambitious campaign promises.
Imagine a ship, set to sail a tempestuous ocean. Aboard is a new giant crew, responsible to make sure the ship reaches its destination safe and sound. The captain knows where to go, but can the crew work with each other? The rest of Indonesia are anxious passengers, not knowing if the new crew will take us to the destination.
That’s why the new administration must prove its ability to collaborate and inspire confidence. The complexity of the overhaul—both in scope and structure—calls for clarity, as each part must work in sync to keep the ship steady. The success of this journey depends not only on individual leaders but on a cohesive approach to governance.
Let’s pull out our crystal ball. In the next couple of months, we foresee that Prabowo's administration will be busy doing less-exciting housekeeping tasks that could determine their success:
Appointing the echelons
Allocating the budget
Building the ‘relationships side’ of policy-making
So, yes, this cabinet can function well to make their promises come true amidst the ‘chaos’ of changing structures. But not without putting extra care while doing those three things.
1. Appoint the right echelons to ensure effective bureaucracy
Indonesia’s Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform, Rini Widyantini, unveiled a crucial 100-day plan, focused on configuring the country’s newly established government structure.
The primary initiatives include:
First, establishing a Presidential Regulation on the Government Performance Accountability System (SAKP), aiming to enhance overall government performance, providing clear accountability measures and driving efficiency across ministries.
This regulation will provide a foundational framework for ministries and agencies to achieve national development goals (shared outcomes) and define Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Second, restructuring and establishing the organisational framework of ministries, appointing civil service positions across the ministries for the 2025–2029 term, and organising non-civil servant personnel.
According to Law 39/2008, each ministry’s organisational framework should be structured to include these key components, ensuring streamlined leadership and efficient operations:
Leader: Headed by the Minister, providing overall guidance and strategic direction.
Leadership Support: The Secretariat-General, assisting in administrative and operational functions.
Core Task Execution: Directorates-General/Deputy, responsible for carrying out the ministry's primary duties and functions.
Oversight: The Inspectorate-General, serving as the ministry’s internal watchdog, ensuring accountability and regulatory compliance.
Support Units and Regional and International Implementation, to applicable ministries.
However, creating, breaking, or combining ministries means that there will be a lot of critical positions open. This would determine the ministry’s ability to conduct its mandate.
It is thus crucial that the process to appoint these individuals is transparent and merit-based; and that political appointments do not permeate the ranks of the administration as this could undermine the integrity and effectiveness of the new structure. This also serves as momentum to promote competent civil servants, those who are already fluent in navigating bureaucracy complexity.
Under Law No. 20/2023 on Civil Servants, the appointment of senior executive positions, including Echelon 1, within ministries and non-ministerial government agencies must be conducted openly and competitively.
The selection process emphasises qualifications such as competence, rank, education and training, job track record, and integrity, along with any other requirements stipulated by law. This is to ensure that appointments meet the highest standards for public service.
Furthermore, nitty-gritty details, such as office space, logos, letterhead, civil servant development, and even the establishment of social media accounts are novel issues that the new ministries must address. While these may seem like mundane administrative tasks, they form the essential foundation for running an effective organisation.
Beyond the echelons
A total of 229,901 civil servants are affected by President Prabowo Subianto’s policy of establishing new ministries and agencies. These personnel are being reassigned to newly formed ministries and agencies as their original institutions have undergone changes in structure or shifts in responsibilities.
But we should not worry about government services being idle in this early transition period, as Presidential Regulation No. 139/2024 specified that personnel holding positions aligned with their respective organisational structures within ministries/agencies will continue to perform their duties until further regulated by the individual presidential regulations for each ministry/agency and to get remunerated accordingly.
Referring to our previous episode on bureaucratic reform, we underscored the crucial role of bureaucrats in the delivery and integrity of government. Ministerial restructures often bring less visible impacts, like temporary drops in productivity as civil servants and staff adjust in the first few months, especially if no processes have been inherited from previous ministries. Resistance or discomfort towards change can worsen these effects. However, measuring exact productivity loss is complex, because defining the output of government work before, during, and after changes presents considerable challenges.
2. Limited funds, high demands: restructuring on a budget
Any organisational changes will have direct, short-term costs. But before we get to the issue of budget, here is a number: 616 Trillion Rupiah. This is the projected deficit from the 2025 state budget draft (RAPBN); a constraining factor for these new ministries’ budget requests.
Not only that, in 2025, Indonesia will face maturing state debt obligations of around Rp800 trillion. Given current national and global economic conditions, this puts significant pressure on the budget, making it challenging to sustain high levels of state spending.
The Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto has stated that no additional budget has been allocated this year for the establishment of new ministry offices. He said that several new ministries in the Merah Putih Cabinet are still operating with the existing budgets from their original ministries prior to their separation or restructuring.
This condition sparked comments and demand from the newly created Ministries. One that caught attention recently was a vocal demand by the Ministry of Human Rights, led by Minister Natalius Pigai. He notably asked for a Rp20 trillion budget and cited a severe staffing shortfall, with only 188 staff members out of the 2,544 he said needed for his ministry. Based on current payroll expenses for 188 employees, which total Rp14 billion, meeting the full staffing requirement would necessitate an estimated budget of at least Rp1.2 trillion.
Secretary-General of the now-cracked Ministry of Law and Human Right, Nico Afinta, explained the 2024 budget allocations for his Ministry: the Human Rights sector has a budget of Rp64.855 billion, comprising 0.31% of the total. Meanwhile, the Law sector receives 35.14% of the total, equivalent to Rp7.294 trillion, and the Immigration and Corrections sectors hold the largest share at Rp13.397 trillion, or 64.64% of the allocated budget.
This request by Minister Pigai invites little empathy from the House. During a working meeting, former Minister of Law and Human Rights and current member of the House’s XIII Commission, Yasonna Laoly, stated that the request needs to be realistic. Other commission members echoed his remark and stated that the Ministry of Human Rights needed to align with Prabowo’s mission to make the state budget.
Ministry of Finance– one of the few that is strategically kept one to ease transition period– already held a Restructuring Meeting for the Ministry/Agency Budget Work Plan (RKAKL) and the Budget Implementation List (DIPA) for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, as well as the management of State-Owned Assets (BMN) for ministries and agencies, was held on October 23. One topic of discussion was the repurposing of BMN assets to serve as offices for these new institutions. The use of these assets must adhere to principles of propriety and efficiency. If a new ministry or agency requires an office or relocation, available BMN properties, particularly idle assets, will be considered for optimal use.
3. Build the healthy working relationships (‘vibe’ check)
We have spent countless hours working with the government to understand that governance is as much about policy-making as it is about relationships. These leaders are only human, after all. And no two leaders are carbon copies of one another; in style or personality. So the dynamics, or the ‘vibe’, between people play a critical role, especially in a cabinet this size. Strong relationships within ministries and across departments are essential to ensuring efficient governance.
In Indonesia, siloed coordination is a longstanding bottleneck, where even strategic directives from the top often falter due to frail inter-agency cooperation. With the decision to build a large cabinet, ensuring robust, cross-ministerial collaboration will be more challenging than ever. The rigid nomenclature of government structures also hampers meaningful coordination on issues that require a multifaceted approach, often leading to fragmented execution.
Moreover, inter-agency relationships are heavily influenced by the dynamics between agency leaders, particularly the ministers. It's widely recognized that these relationships are often shaped by the rapport—or lack thereof—between ministers and their vice ministers.
Take the newly established Ministry of Culture, which has both a minister and a vice minister. When asked about their plans shortly after inauguration, the vice minister mentioned that their agenda is still in the works, as he has only met with the minister once. Many newly appointed leaders likely face the same situation, having had little chance to build substantial rapport with their colleagues while tackling complex cross-ministry priorities.
In the coming months, these ministers and their teams will need time to form strong working relationships, crucial for sustaining collaborative momentum over the next five years. Recognizing this need, President Prabowo—to his credit—led a military-style training session for his Cabinet, emphasising unity and a shared mission. This was a constructive first step to foster cohesion among the hundreds of officials tasked with leading diverse ministries and agencies.
Beyond intra-institutional engagements, these ministers are likely to receive a steady stream of visitors—lobbyists and interest groups—seeking to fill their calendars in the coming months. These guests may include those looking to preserve their established influence over policies, politics, or personal relationships, as well as newcomers who may lack formal ties to the ministries but have personal connections with these new faces of ministers. Handling these interests tactfully will be crucial for ministers who must balance external pressures with policy priorities that align with national objectives.
Reshuffle?
Last but not least, if historical patterns hold true, President Prabowo may have a reshuffle during his first year in office, much like his predecessors, Jokowi and SBY. Some of the way ministers can survive a reshuffle, they must either:
Good-behaving, prioritise delivery and getting wins for the administration;
cultivating good political relationships with Prabowo and those in his inner circle;
or both.
It is our hope that these ministers will focus on achieving meaningful outcomes and fostering effective governance rather than merely seeking to gain favour with the President and his close associates. By striving for excellence and demonstrating their commitment to public service, we believe that they can enhance their chances of longevity in the cabinet while delivering greater goods for the people.
The first 100 days of a new government may not take us directly to the promised land, but they are a critical “stress test” for the ship we’re all aboard. This period is pivotal in showing if the vessel is resilient and also prepared to steer through an ever-changing global landscape—marked by political and economic shifts, such as rising inflation, escalating geopolitical tensions, and technological disruptions.
Close attention to how these first steps are taken will be essential, as this is when trust is earned. If that trust is built, we’re not just along for the ride; we’re engaged in a journey equipped to face the fiercest storms and chart a course toward a stronger, more resilient future.
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