Indonesia Unveils Cabinet Dominated by Technocrats

Newly elected Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri unveiled a Cabinet of specialists hailed as an economic “dream team.” But her selection of a general accused of human rights abuses drew criticism.

Thursday’s announcement of the lineup ended three weeks of political horse trading since her election July 23, when former leader Abdurrahman Wahid was dismissed by the national assembly.

The Cabinet members were sworn in today.

In selecting the ministers, Megawati sought to reconcile the need to reassure Indonesia’s international creditors with demands for jobs by politicians who helped elect her after Wahid’s ouster.

The long delay in replacing the caretaker Cabinet sent jitters through financial markets and raised concerns about Megawati’s ability to restore investor confidence in the crisis-ridden economy.

Megawati’s 32-member Cabinet is dominated by nonpartisan technocrats who she said will try to pull Indonesia out of its deepest economic and social crisis in decades.

“National unity will be the first priority of my Cabinet,” she said in a nationally televised speech. “We are facing the threat of territorial and social disintegration.”

Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, a former economics professor and the outgoing ambassador to the United States, was named senior minister for economics. He will coordinate the work of the ministries of finance, trade, state enterprises and all other government agencies dealing with the economy.

An appointment that sparked immediate controversy was that of A.M. Hendropriyono, a retired lieutenant general, as the new intelligence chief.

He has been accused of ordering the slaughter of more than 100 unarmed civilians in southern Sumatra in 1989.

Among the other significant appointments was civilian Matori Abdul Jalil as defense minister.

Matori is the third civilian since the 1999 election of Wahid--the first democratically chosen president in decades--to serve in a post traditionally held by military officers.