Indonesia’s new president, Joko Widodo, couldn’t finish appointing his cabinet Wednesday after the country’s independent anti-corruption agency rejected eight of his nominees.
Widodo, pictured left, is Indonesia’s first leader not from the political or military elite. He was formerly a popular governor of Jakarta.
Commonly known as Jokowi, he became the first Indonesian head of state to seek approval of his list of ministerial candidates from anti-corruption agencies before announcing the government, Reuters said.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla said on a TV interview, “The KPK (Corruption Eradication Commission) notes and recommendations are being taken very seriously. Since the (election) campaign, Jokowi has promised that this cabinet has to be clean.”
Widodo, 53, was sworn into office Monday. He had planned to announce his 33-minister cabinet Tuesday.
He didn’t identify the candidates rejected by the KPK.
He said earlier his team would be made up of 18 technocrats and 15 political appointees.
“Everyone wants us to work quickly but what happens if we are mistaken? We need to be quick, but also correct,” Widodo said Wednesday.
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Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. He can be contacted here.
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