On October 21, in a ceremony held at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, members of Indonesia’s new cabinet took their oaths of office, officially appointed by the newly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto.
Prabowo was sworn in as Indonesia’s eighth president on the morning of October 20 and later that evening revealed the names of 53 cabinet members, dubbing them the “Red and White Cabinet” in reference to the colors of the Indonesian flag. This new cabinet consists of seven coordinating ministers, 41 ministers, and five ministerial-level officials, with the youngest member being 34-year-old Dito Ariotjo, the Minister of Youth and Sports, who represents the millennial generation.
In contrast to the 34 ministries under former President Joko Widodo’s administration, the current government has established 48 ministries, adding 14 more departments. Additionally, several ministries now have multiple deputy ministers, breaking the previous norm of having only one. For instance, the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises each have three deputy ministers, resulting in a total of 56 deputy minister positions.
Among the new cabinet members, at least 16 are familiar faces; four coordinating ministers were retained, and 12 out of the 41 ministers previously held ministerial roles. However, most of the retained ministers have been reassigned to different positions, with the notable exceptions of Economic Coordinating Minister Airlangga, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani, and Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Arifin Tasrif. President Prabowo stated that his selection process was based on merit rather than background.
Sujiyono has been appointed as Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, becoming the first non-career diplomat to hold this role in recent years.
