Jakarta. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said he did not want to meddle with his successor Prabowo Subianto’s cabinet makeup, including his plans to have more ministers.

Prabowo is reportedly planning to have a 44-strong cabinet -- a huge increase from the current one that has 30 ministers and 4 coordinating ministers. Jokowi said that it would be up to Prabowo to expand the cabinet.

“Just ask the president-elect,” Jokowi said when inspecting the state logistics company Bulog’s warehouse in East Kalimantan on Thursday.

Reporters at the time were asking for comments on Prabowo’s cabinet expansion plans. Jokowi said: “That’s [Prabowo’s] prerogative. Why ask me? It is up to the president-elect Prabowo -- as someone who has been picked by the people.”

According to Gerindra’s acting chairman Sufmi Dasco Ahmad not long ago, Prabowo is still making calculations on his future cabinet. Dasco said at the time that Prabowo still could not disclose the exact cabinet makeup as things were still at the “simulation stage”.

“Some say that we will have 44 ministers, while others say there will be 42 or 40 ministers. But we are still making simulations,” Dasco said while revealing that the cabinet makeup would likely be finalized a week before Prabowo’s inauguration on Oct. 20.

Gerindra’s secretary-general Ahmad Muzani said Wednesday that a cabinet expansion was necessary so each ministry would be “more focused” on their respective fields. According to Muzani, Prabowo wants a program to be handled by one ministry for better execution of their programs. Muzani also told the public to stop differentiating political party-affiliated ministers from those who are professionals.

“A minister is someone who is an expert in their field,” Muzani said.

Muzani added: “I think we are getting closer to having the final cabinet makeup, including their names and the number of the ministers.”

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