President Jokowi angry at cabinet meeting, threatening to reshuffle ministers

Last updated on May 6th, 2021 at 09:18 am

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo showed his anger at the aides in the Advanced Indonesian Cabinet. Jokowi was angry with the ministers in the Advanced Indonesian Cabinet who worked normally in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Jokowi was angry at the minister revealed in a cabinet meeting at the State Palace, Jakarta, Thursday, June 18, 2020. Jokowi’s video angry at the minister aired the Presidential Secretariat YouTube account, Sunday, June 28.

In the angry Jokowi’s video, Jokowi was chairing a cabinet meeting. With a high note, Jokowi expressed his anger at ministers who were still behaving normally during the current crisis, both due to the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on the economy.

“I see, there are still many of us who are as usual. I am really annoyed. Don’t you have the feeling? Current condition is a crisis!” Jokowi said in a high tone.

Jokowi admitted he was furious because his staffs were not swift in dealing with a crisis situation. He even expressed his anger because the performance of his aides did not bring significant progress.

“Our actions, our decisions, our policies, the atmosphere must be an atmosphere of crisis. Do not put mediocre policies consider this a normality. What is this?”

“Only because of regulatory matters. This [must be] extraordinary. I have to say what it is. There is no significant progress, there isn’t,” he said.

One ministry that was highlighted when Jokowi was angry was the Ministry of Health. Jokowi said that the health budget that had been budgeted at the Ministry of Health for handling the Covid-19 pandemic around Rp. 75 trillion, but it had only been disbursed a little.

“But the budget has only been used at 1.53%,” Jokowi said in a high tone.

Besides, Jokowi was also angry with the Ministry of Social Affairs. It is because the distribution of social assistance was still not 100 percent optimal while the community was waiting for help during the corona pandemic.

According to Jokowi, this corona pandemic needs extra attention. All levels of government must work extra hard to be able to meet the needs of the community.

Jokowi even posed a threat of a cabinet reshuffle suddenly in the midst of a corona (Covid-19) pandemic, because his staffs were still considered to be working “normally” in a crisis situation.

“It could be, dissolve the institution, it could be reshuffled. I’ve been thinking about many things. Maybe issue the Government Regulations in Lieu of Law (Perppu) that more important, if necessary,” he said.

Jokowi’s anger video invited public attention, especially comments on social media.

Responding to this, the Presidential Palace spoke out about the reasons for publishing President Jokowi’s video, which in a high voice he scolded ministers in a plenary cabinet meeting on June 18. Previously, the cabinet meeting was closed. But lately, the Presidential Secretariat released the video so public can also watch it.

“Because the plenary cabinet meeting was originally internal, but after we studied the President’s statement, many things were good and good for the public to know so we asked permission from the President to publish them. That’s why it was then published,” said Deputy for Protocol, Press, and Media The Presidential Secretariat, Bey Machmudin told reporters on Monday, June 29.

According to Bey, the contents of President Jokowi’s introductory speech at the cabinet meeting are important for the public to know. The palace studied it many times before finally deciding to release the video. The video was finally opened to the public after 10 days of the cabinet session.