Indonesia Ministers Banned to Set Strategis Policies

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has issued a circular to all cabinet ministers asking them not to make strategic policies until he announces a cabinet reshuffle, a presidential spokesman said.

The circular was designed to maintain the continuity of government policies before and after the cabinet shakeup was announced, Julian Aldrin Pasha said here on Wednesday.

"It (the circular) is a presidential instruction. It is issued ahead of the reshuffle so the ministers will not take any strategic step or policy before the cabinet reshuffle is announced," he said.

The circular contained a ban on the issuance of strategic policies including ministerial regulations and other regulations at each ministry, he said.

"Ministers are not allowed to take strategic policies until a new cabinet lineup is inaugurated," he said.

Yet the ban did not apply to deliberations on draft laws, draft state budget and policies involving other state institutes, he said.

The circular had been sent to all ministries, with copies addressed to all state institutes. He said the circular did not mean that the current ministers were outgoing ones.

"They are not outgoing ministers. But they’d better not take strategic policies."

The circular would not disrupt the government’s duties. Instead, it would ensure the continuity of government policies at each ministry, he said.

He added the plan to shake up the United Indonesia Cabinet II had reached a final phase and the President had held a new lineup of cabinet ministers who would assist him in the next three-and-a-half years.