Mahfud MD Criticizes Proposal to Increase Number of Ministries
Former coordinating political, legal, and security affairs minister Mahfud MD has criticized the proposal by politicians within the coalition of president-elect Prabowo Subianto to increase the number of ministries in the upcoming administration. Mahfud argues that this could lead to more corruption.
He believes the proposal is a way to reward the many political parties that supported Prabowo in the February 14th election. "The more ministries, the more we will have sources of corruption. Especially because individual ministries have their own budgets," Mahfud said at a seminar organized by the Yogyakarta-based Indonesian Islamic University (UII).
Mahfud also pointed out that there has been a tendency to add new ministries in successive administrations over the past decade, aiming to create an all-inclusive government. "It was 26 and then 34 and then they added some more. After the next election, it will probably be 60. The collusion is getting wider. This country will be ruined," he said.
Local media reports suggest that Prabowo is considering adding new portfolios to accommodate demands from leaders of political parties who are eager to get more seats in the cabinet.
Gerindra Party executive Habiburokhman, however, sees the proposal positively. "I don’t see any issues with involving as many people as possible [in the cabinet]," he said. "We are a big country with big challenges and big targets. It’s only reasonable that we need a lot of people in the government.
8 Comments
AlanDV
Gerindra is right, we need a large government to meet the big challenges we face.
Vladimir
Mahfud is right. More ministries mean more opportunities for corruption. We need to streamline the government, not make it bigger and more bloated.
AlanDV
Adding more ministries will only create more bureaucracy and red tape. It will make the government less efficient, not more.
Vladimir
I am confident that Prabowo will choose qualified individuals to fill the new ministerial positions.
AlanDV
This proposal is a blatant attempt to reward Prabowo's supporters with government jobs. It's not about efficiency, it's about patronage.
Leonardo
This is a slippery slope. Once we start adding ministries, there will be no end to it. We need to stop this before it's too late.
Donatello
This proposal is nothing more than a political ploy to gain more power and control. It's not in the best interests of the people.
Michelangelo
This is a good opportunity to reform the government and make it more accountable to the people.