Only a few ministers to stay: Yudhoyono

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 10/16/2009 5:32 PM

Farewell gathering: President-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (center), accompanied by outgoing vice president Jusuf Kalla, bids farewell to outgoing Cabinet ministers at the state palace on Friday. (Antara/Widodo S. JusufAntara/Widodo S. Jusuf.)

President-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono confirmed on Friday only a few of the current Cabinet ministers would serve for another five-year term.

“Only a small number of them will continue their term in office and join the second United Indonesia Cabinet. Therefore, I thank them,” Yudhoyono said during a farewell party for Cabinet ministers at the State Palace.

Yudhoyono would not go into details about who among the current ministers will assist him in his second term in office.

A number of ministers, including Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Trade Minister Marie Elka Pangestu and State Secretary Hatta Radjasa, have been widely touted to extend their terms as Cabinet ministers.

Yudhoyono started calling his ministerial candidates on Thursday evening and will interview them and require them to undergo a medical checkup. The new Cabinet lineup will be announced on Wednesday, a day after Yudhoyono’s inauguration as the president for 2009-2014 period.