Subroto Out as Indonesia’s Energy Chief in Shake-Up

President Suharto of Indonesia appointed a new energy secretary on Monday, replacing former OPEC president and longtime oil-price moderate Subroto in a sweeping cabinet shake-up.

The new minister of mines and energy is Ginandjar Kartasasmita, a Japanese-educated martial arts enthusiast. Ginandjar, 46, was chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board in the old cabinet and is seen by foreign businessmen as a tough negotiator and strong nationalist.

Listing his new ministerial team for the next five years, the 66-year-old president also replaced the defense, foreign and interior ministers as he chose a cabinet to take southeast Asia’s largest nation into the 1990s.

Suharto, reelected this month to a fifth five-year term that will keep him in power until 1993, said he was bringing in 19 new ministers.

Subroto, 59, and outgoing Foreign Minister Mochtar Kusumaatmadja had both been in their jobs for 10 years. Subroto’s replacement came as no surprise.

A technocrat that Suharto recruited after assuming power in 1966, Subroto was respected internationally as a voice of compromise and moderation between OPEC’s frequently feuding camps.

The former economics professor’s wide grin and colorful bow ties have been a familiar sight at meetings of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries for a decade.

In recent weeks the usually ebullient Subroto took a tougher line, warning that Indonesia, the only Asian country in OPEC, would no longer feel bound by its agreements if members continued to cheat on quotas or offer price discounts.

Learned Kempo

Ginandjar is likely also to pursue that line, oil analysts said. His familiarity with Japan should help in dealing with Indonesia’s largest oil customer.

Ginandjar graduated from Tokyo University for Agriculture and Technology with a chemical engineering degree in 1965, where he also learned Kempo, a Japanese martial art. He joined the air force after his studies.

“What I need is a small but effective staff so that our work will not be hampered by too much bureaucracy,” Ginandjar said after taking over as foreign investment chief five years ago.

He helped bring in more liberal investment rules as part of a series of economic changes following the crash in world oil prices in 1986. The rules were designed to boost non-oil exports and encourage foreign investment.

His main challenge will be to boost flagging oil exploration while maintaining Indonesian markets for crude and natural gas, oil industry sources said.

President Suharto named former armed forces commander and intelligence chief Gen. Benny Murdani as defense minister, calming speculation of a rift with the military, diplomats said.

The new foreign minister is editor-turned diplomat Ali Alatas, a 55-year-old Muslim who was Indonesia’s ambassador to the United Nations.

In a nationally televised announcement, Suharto said his objective was to maintain continuity while bringing younger men into top positions.