New Indonesia Cabinet Lessens Military’s Clout

HANOI — Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid named a Cabinet on Tuesday that diminishes the power of the military and gives top priority to economic recovery.

Although the 35-member Cabinet includes four ministers who served in the authoritarian regime of Suharto, Indonesia’s former president, Wahid’s team clearly represents a new agenda for the troubled country and an attempt to fulfill Wahid’s pledge to end decades of corrupt, autocratic mismanagement.

For the first time, a civilian will be defense minister. An ethnic Chinese, whose influential community was long ignored by Suharto and his handpicked successor, President B. J. Habibie, will hold a sensitive economic post. All major political parties are represented in the Cabinet.

“There are some compromises,” Wahid said in a television address, adding that he hopes the Indonesian people will find the choices “very satisfactory.” Because of Wahid’s failing eyesight, Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri read the list of ministers.

In one notable move, Wahid stripped Gen. Wiranto of his portfolio as defense minister and his position as armed forces chief, giving him a lesser Cabinet post as political and security affairs minister.

Wiranto, a onetime Suharto loyalist and a minister in Habibie’s government, had been regarded by many Western diplomats as a reformist. But the military was guilty of widespread human rights abuses during his watch, and analysts said Wahid had little choice but to replace him.

Wiranto, who, like many Indonesians, goes by one name, is likely to remain influential and a potential presidential candidate in the future, analysts said.

Wiranto’s replacement as defense minister is Juwono Sudarsono, a civilian and a minister in Habibie’s Cabinet. Adm. Widodo Adisutjipto, who has no prior political involvement, replaces Wiranto as armed forces chief. He had been Wiranto’s deputy.

Wahid told reporters that Wiranto recommended Widodo and Juwono for the jobs. “Don’t think that the military is crazy,” Wahid said. “They are responsible. They know that the whole society is changing now. Because of this, Gen. Wiranto also knows that the military has to change its attitudes toward society.”

But Wahid’s unprecedented choice of a naval officer to head the armed forces appeared to send a message. The navy is viewed as less corrupt and brutal than the army, and Wahid has been one of the few national leaders willing to criticize the powerful military’s excesses.

Political analysts said Wahid’s new Cabinet weakens the military’s direct power and is in line with his intention to make commanders more answerable to society. But they noted that the appointment of six active or retired senior officers to the Cabinet underscores Wahid’s awareness that a civilian president still needs military support.

The new foreign minister is Alwi Shihab, a senior member of Wahid’s National Awakening Party. Shihab, an Islamic studies expert, was recently a visiting professor at Harvard University.

Wahid said his first priority is economic recovery, his second territorial integrity. To handle the first challenge, he appointed Kwik Kian Gie, an ethnic Chinese, as senior economics minister.

Kwik will be the conduit to the International Monetary Fund and foreign investors, whose money is badly needed in Indonesia. He was an early critic of tough demands placed on Indonesia by the IMF in exchange for putting together a $43-billion international rescue package, but he has softened his opposition and agreed to work with the agency to restore investor confidence and political stability.

His appointment also is significant because the country’s ethnic Chinese, who fled Indonesia in droves after being targeted in riots last year, have parked an estimated $5 billion offshore. One of Kwik’s top priorities will be to convince them to return home with their funds.

In another conciliatory gesture, Wahid said he had accepted the offer of East Timor’s independence leader, Jose Alexandre “Xanana” Gusmao, to visit the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, for high-level talks. East Timor residents voted in August to secede from Indonesia, which invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975 and annexed it the following year.

“I will meet him at the airport,” Wahid said. Gusmao, jailed by Suharto for rebellion, was freed by Habibie.