Prabowo announces his ‘Red and White’ Cabinet, Sugiono named as Indonesia’s new foreign minister

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s newly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto on Sunday (Oct 20) evening announced his Cabinet of 48 ministers.
Following the presidential gala dinner at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Prabowo revealed that it will be known as the “Red and White Cabinet”.
“Per agreement between leaders of political parties in our coalition, we name this Cabinet ‘Red and White Cabinet’,” he said on Sunday evening.
While it had of a mix of professional and political appointees, most of the economics-related ministers remained the same as those under his predecessor Joko Widodo (Jokowi).
One key announcement was for the foreign ministry, which will now be led by Sugiono, who goes by one name. A former member of the army’s special forces, he is the deputy chairperson of Prabowo’s Gerindra Party.
Rosan Perkasa Roeslani returned as investment minister and Sri Mulyani Indrawati and Erick Thohir kept their respective portfolios of finance and state owned enterprises.
Former army general Prabowo won the Feb 14 contest with nearly 60 per cent of the vote and has spent the past nine months building a formidable parliamentary coalition.
Prabowo will take his Cabinet members on a three-day retreat from Oct 25 to 27 at a military academy nestled in a Javanese mountain range, where they will sleep in tents, an unusual start for a government in the Southeast Asian country.
The retreat will be at a military academy in Magelang, Central Java, surrounded by volcanoes about 500km east of Jakarta.
It is aimed at forming a bond between the roughly 100 Cabinet ministers and their deputies, a diverse grouping of politicians, technocrats, former military officials and religious leaders, according to Abdul Kadir Karding, migrant protection minister.
Prabowo wants to make sure his Cabinet members understand his vision, Karding said.
“So it will be easier for us to work together. (Prabowo) always emphasises the importance of solidity,” Karding said, noting that an anti-corruption lesson will be part of the material covered at the retreat.
Such an excursion is not new for Prabowo and reflects his leadership style. His Gerindra political party has often organised similar events at Prabowo’s spacious Hambalang estate south of Jakarta.
Gerindra’s most recent retreat was held in September to prepare elected parliamentary members to be sworn in. Social media posts from the retreat show politicians posing for photographs wearing brown camouflage uniforms, maroon berets and combat boots.
Most Gerindra retreats have consisted of briefings on state ideology and leadership, and outdoor activities such as jogging and light exercises, said 57-year-old Gerindra member Ferry Juliantono, who is Prabowo’s deputy minister of cooperatives. He said Prabowo, 73, himself typically leads the retreats.
Prabowo’s Cabinet includes officials continuing on from the administration of predecessor Jokowi, such as highly-regarded finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, 62, as well as retired lieutenant general Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, 71, a friend of Prabowo since their military days who is now defence minister.
The full list of coordinating ministers and ministers in Prabowo’s “Red and White Cabinet” is as follows:
Below is the list of minister-level officials in the Cabinet:
The Cabinet will be sworn in on Monday morning.