Indonesia president-elect Prabowo’s nephew amongst inner circle members appointed to help with Jokowi handover

JAKARTA: Indonesian president Joko Widodo has appointed two key members of president-elect Prabowo Subianto’s transition team, including a member of his family, as deputy ministers of finance and agriculture in a move to assist a smooth government handover in October.

Mr Prabowo’s nephew, Mr Thomas Djiwandono, was appointed as second deputy finance minister, while the president elect’s former aide Sudaryono, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, was appointed as agriculture deputy minister. 

Both were sworn in on Thursday (Jul 18), alongside another new appointee, Mr Yuliot Tanjung, who was appointed deputy minister of investment. 

Mr Thomas’s appointment was intended to “smooth the transition from the outgoing administration of Mr Jokowi to Mr Prabowo,” a senior politician from Prabowo’s Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), Mr Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, told Reuters. 

The rupiah fell about 0.4 per cent against the US dollar during early Thursday trading, the biggest drop among emerging Asian currencies.

However Maybank Indonesia economist Myrdal Gunarto, quoted in the Jakarta Post, said that the appointment should have a neutral impact on the markets, and the rupiah’s drop was probably due to external factors. 

US-educated Mr Thomas is Mr Prabowo’s advisor for fiscal issues and also Gerindra’s treasurer.  

His father, Mr Soedradjad Djiwandono, is a renowned economist who served as Indonesia’s central bank governor from 1993 to 1998, during the latter part of the late President Suharto’s era.

Mr Soedradjad is married to Mdm Biantiningsih Miderawati, the elder sister of Mr Prabowo.

Mr Prabowo is the former son-in-law of Mr Suharto, previously married to Mr Soeharto’s second daughter, Mdm Titiek Suharto, in 1983. They divorced in 1998 after Mr Suharto’s fall from power, following nationwide riots.