Who is he?

Rizal Ramli, an economist and politician, is Indonesia’s new coordinating minister for maritime affairs. He has served twice in previous cabinets, first as the coordinating minister for economic affairs from 2000 to 2001, and then as minister of finance in 2001. He also chaired the government’s rice procurement agency, known as Bulog, in 2001. Rizal ran as an independent presidential candidate in 2009.

Dr. Rizal Ramli. Source: Wikimedia, used under a creative commons license.

Why is he in the news?

Shortly after joining President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s cabinet in an August 12 reshuffle, Rizal stirred up a controversy by openly criticizing government projects, including plans to build new, large-scale power plants and for national flag carrier Garuda to purchase $44.5 billion worth of planes. His remarks have drawn rebukes from both Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Rini Soemarno and Vice President Jusuf Kalla. Jokowi has weighed in by backing Kalla and reminding Rizal that a coordinating minister’s job is to supervise and coordinate policies per the president’s instructions.

What can we expect from him?

As a coordinating minister, Rizal will be overseeing the ministries for transportation, tourism, energy, and fisheries in an effort to bring about Jokowi’s vision of transforming Indonesia into a global maritime fulcrum. The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, in particular, has been in the international spotlight for sinking fishing ships from neighboring countries caught illegally operating in Indonesian waters.

Rizal’s tendency to openly criticize his fellow ministers, if continued, will likely undermine the cabinet’s solidarity and could prove to be a hurdle for the president’s efforts to revive Indonesia’s sluggish economy.