Reasons for Civil Coalition Forming Prabowo's Shadow Cabinet

A coalition of Indonesian civil society members, including academics and activists, has established a "shadow cabinet" to serve as a counterweight to President Prabowo Subianto's administration. This parallel government structure, comprising fifteen ministerial positions, was formed in response to what the group perceives as a lack of effective checks and balances on the executive branch.

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Marking the establishment of the first shadow cabinet born from the initiative of the Indonesian people.

Feri Amsari, the head of the selection committee for the shadow cabinet, stated that the fifteen ministers were chosen from 121 applicants through a rigorous and open selection process. He emphasized that this is the first shadow cabinet initiated by the Indonesian people, designed to provide a platform for public oversight and alternative policy development based on evidence.

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There is no formal opposition strong enough to balance the policies of the Red and White Cabinet.

Amsari explained that the formation of the shadow cabinet is a direct reaction to the current political landscape, where nearly all significant political forces support the government. He argued that there is no sufficiently strong formal opposition to balance the policies of the "Red and White Cabinet." The shadow cabinet aims to fill this void, operating on meritocracy rather than power-sharing.

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The Shadow Cabinet is not a rival cabinet to compete for power. The Shadow Cabinet is a platform for oversight and the development of evidence-based alternative policies, working pro-bono, and is non-partisan.

Each minister in the shadow cabinet will act as a direct counterpart to a minister in the official cabinet, focusing on the same policy areas. This structure is intended to ensure that every policy introduced by the government receives a comparative idea from a corresponding shadow minister, rather than general, unfocused commentary. Tempo has reached out to the Presidential Secretariat for a response but has not yet received one.

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Every policy born from the government will receive a comparative idea from a peer shadow minister, not general comments without direction.