Indonesia Highlights: Indonesian President Jokowi Appoints Six New Ministers | Indonesian National Police Pledges to Secure Covid-19 Vaccines | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Pay State Visit to Indonesia in 2021

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – President Jokowi’s resolutions for 2021 came a week before the New Year, as he appointed six new ministers to give a new beginning to his second term.

The Indonesian National Police is set to lead the way among law enforcement, as it pledged to deploy nearly 10 thousand to secure Covid-19 vaccines, as the country is set to stamp out the pandemic by carrying out mass vaccinations nationwide.

And while Covid-19 might wreck travel plans for millions of people in Indonesia and around the world, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is definitely not one of them. The Turkish leader is set to pay a state visit to Indonesia in 2021, four years after he received President Jokowi in Ankara in 2017. Read on to get more on these stories, as curated by our editors:

KOMPAS.COM/GHINAN SALMAN Social Affairs Minister Tri Rismaharini. The Surabaya Mayor is one of six new ministers appointed by President Joko Widodo in a year end cabinet shakeup

Indonesian President Jokowi Appoints Six New Ministers

President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo has appointed six new ministers to his cabinet. Mayor of Surabaya Tri Rismaharini headed off the list with her appointment as Minister of Social Affairs.

The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) stalwart will replace Juliari Batubara, after the Corruption Eradication Commission or KPK arrested the latter for allegedly embezzling social aid for those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Jokowi also appointed his former rival in the 2019 presidential race Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno as Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy in place of media mogul Wishnutama Kusubandio.

Jokowi also appointed nuclear physicist Budi Gunadi Sadikin as Minister of Health, in place of his embattled predecessor Terawan Agus Putranto.

The president also named Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Islamic organization stalwart Yaqut Cholil Qoumas as Religious Affairs Minister in place of former General Fachrul Razi.

Jokowi also appointed former Deputy Minister of Defense Wahyu Sakti Trenggono as Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. He will replace Edhy Prabowo, who was arrested by the KPK at the end of November for allegedly taking kickbacks on lobster seeds.

Indonesian Ambassador to the United States M. Lutfi rounded off the shakeup, as he was named Minister of Trade to replace Agus Suparmanto. Lutfi’s tenure in the post is his second, following previous appointment to the post by Jokowi’s predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2014.

Source:

https://go.kompas.com/read/2020/12/22/231934974/indonesian-president-jokowi-appoints-six-new-ministers?page=all#page2. 

Dok. Divisi Humas Polri Indonesian National Police Chief General Idham Azis and other senior police officials, Friday (4/12/2020)

Indonesian National Police to Secure Covid-19 Vaccines

The Indonesian National Police has pledged to safeguard the government’s Covid-19 vaccination program, as it gets underway in 2021.

“The Indonesian National Police will guard and secure the vaccines nationwide. We will also deploy 9,968 medical personnel to support the program,” said National Police chief General Idham Azis on Tuesday, December 22.

He added that the 566 of the medical personnel will help treat Covid-19 cases at the Wisma Atlet emergency hospital and other similar facilities. The Corruption Eradication Commission similarly vowed to safeguard the vaccines from their formulation as policy to their distribution to the ground.
“We will carry out this to safeguard public health, and to ensure that funds allocated [to the vaccines] and the Covid-19 pandemic wil not be misused,” said KPK deputy Nurul Ghufron.

Ghufron noted that the measure is the latest of its kind, after the KPK deployed ten task forces to deal with corrupt practices in tackling Covid-19, since it was detected in Indonesia last March

Source:

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/12/22/13511651/bantu-vaksinasi-covid-19-polri-kerahkan-9668-tenaga-medis-hingga-622-faskes. 

GETTY IMAGES via BBC INDONESIA Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Pay State Visit to Indonesia in 2021

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to pay a state visit to Indonesia in 2021, four years after President Joko Widodo visited the Turkish leader in the country’s capital Ankara in 2017.

“[Erdogan’s visit] is a reciprocal gesture towards President Jokowi’s visit to Ankara,” said Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi during talks with her Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu on Tuesday, December 22.

“Both leaders will discuss the formation of “a High-Level Strategic Council. The forum will be the venue for Indonesian and Turkey to discuss bilateral, regional and multilateral issues that concerns them,” the veteran diplomat noted.

"I am certain [that Erdogan’s state visit] will take Turkish-Indonesian relations to a new level”, said Retno.of the talks, which included the Indonesia-Turkey Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IT-CEPA).

Indonesia and Turkey also expressed a willingness to collaborate in the defense and aerospace industries, as well as medical fields and other sectors.

Source:

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/12/22/14483141/presiden-erdogan-berencana-kunjungi-indonesia-tahun-2021?page=all#page2.