Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto appoints cabinet ministers

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto unveiled a cabinet of 53 ministers and heads of ministerial level agencies late Sunday evening, about 11 hours after being sworn in as the new president, along with his running mate Gibran Rakabuming Raka.

Subianto named his cabinet "Kabinet Merah Putih" (red and white), which depicts the colors of Indonesia's national flag. Inauguration of the cabinet lineup is scheduled for Monday.

More than a dozen of the ministers are continuing from the previous administration of his predecessor, Joko Widodo.

Sri Mulyani Indrawati, the reformist finance minister under Widodo, is among the list of cabinet members announced, retaining her position as minister of finance.

Other senior ministers from the previous cabinet include Airlangga Hartarto, who had served as coordinating minister for the economy and will continue in the same position under Subianto's administration; Tito Karnavian, who retains his post as home affairs minister; Agus Gumiwang, retaining his portfolio as minister of industry; Erick Tohir, who will continue as minister of state enterprises and Bahlil Lahadalia, who retains his post as minister of energy and mineral resources.

Sugiono is a new face, getting the post of minister of foreign affairs. He is a former army lieutenant general and is vice general chairman of Subianto's political party, Gerakan Indonesia Raya (Gerindra). He was a military cadet at Norwich University, the oldest military campus in the United States and he also studied at the campus' computer tech program.

The position of minister of defense has been given to former army lieutenant general Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin.

Subianto had categorically stated that his cabinet would form a "zaken" cabinet, one that consists of ministers with expertise in their respective fields. This differs from a cabinet that is dominated by politicians.

Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, a former army member and general chairman of the Democratic Party was given the position of coordinating minister for infrastructure and regional development. He is the eldest son of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Some of the ministers have one or more vice ministers with one of them being Stella Christie, who was appointed as vice minister for high education, science and technology. She is a professor and research chair at Tsinghua University's Laboratory of Brain and Intelligence in Beijing.

A significant number of the cabinet lineup announced this evening come from Gerindra and its coalition of parties that supported Subianto in the February presidential election. Others are independent individuals with special expertise.

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.