New President Subianto swears in Indonesia's largest Cabinet since 1966, with 109 members

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Newly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto swore in Indonesia's largest Cabinet since 1966 on Monday, with 109 members representing his pledge for a strong government.

He announced the lineup late Sunday and named his Cabinet of ministers, vice ministers and head of national agencies the “Red and White Cabinet,” referring to the colors of Indonesia’s flag.

Subianto became the eighth president of Southeast Asia’s largest economy on Sunday.

The Cabinet of Subianto’s predecessor, Joko Widodo, had 34 ministers and head of government agencies. Subianto's Cabinet is the largest since 1966 when Indonesia’s first President Sukarno formed a lineup of 132 ministers in an extremely tense political situation after a failed 1965 coup. The so-called Dwikora Cabinet 2 was dismissed a month later.

Subianto has said earlier that he needs a strong administration, even though analysts said that his “fat” Cabinet would bloat the bureaucracy.

“I want to create a strong government that would unite our multicultural society and diverse political interests,” Subianto said before inviting more than 100 people for interviews at his residence last week. “It must be a big coalition, and some will say my Cabinet is fat.”

The Cabinet features politicians from a coalition of seven parties who supported his victory in the February election, and figures allied with Widodo’s Cabinet, who were reappointed to continue their jobs under Subianto’s presidency. Analysts said the move was a political reward to Widodo for the latter’s tacit support in the election.

Subianto was sworn in with his new vice president, 37-year-old Surakarta ex-Mayor Gibran Rakabuming Raka. He chose Raka, who is Widodo’s son, as his running mate, with Widodo favoring Subianto over the candidate of his own former party. The former rivals became tacit allies, even though Indonesian presidents don’t typically endorse candidates.

Subianto was a longtime rival of the Widodo, who ran against him for the presidency twice and refused to accept his defeat on both occasions, in 2014 and 2019.

But Widodo appointed Subianto as defense chief after his reelection, paving the way for an alliance despite their rival political parties. During the campaign, Subianto ran as the popular outgoing president’s heir, vowing to continue signature policies like the construction of a multibillion-dollar new capital city and limits on exporting raw materials intended to boost domestic industry.

Backed by Widodo, Subianto swept to a landslide victory in February’s direct presidential election on promises of policy continuity.

Subianto reappointed nearly half of Widodo’s Cabinet members, including Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, making her the first person to hold the ministry under three different presidents.

Indrawati, 62, who has served as the executive director of the International Monetary Fund and managing director of the World Bank, is one of Indonesia’s longest-serving finance ministers, having held the post for long stretches under Presidents Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Joko Widodo.

She has earned considerable respect in international circles, particularly for her reforms of the chaotic Indonesian taxation system and her role in steering Indonesia through the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We regularly consulted with each other to discuss strategies for strengthening the Finance Ministry and the state finances to support his programs,” Indrawati told reporters after meeting with Subianto last week.

Other ministers from Widodo’s Cabinet include Interior Minister Tito Karnavian, Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan, Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir.

Subianto has announced an ambitious goal of increasing annual economic growth to 8% by the end of his five-year term, and embarking on an ambitious spending program, including an increase in defense spending, hikes in civil servants’ salaries, and a program to give 83 million children free meals.

This story has been corrected to show the largest Indonesian Cabinet was formed in 1966.

Indonesia's new President Prabowo Subianto, foreground, and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, right, greet newly-appointed deputy ministers during the announcement of their cabinet lineup at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

Indonesia's new President Prabowo Subianto, center, announces his cabinet lineup of newly-appointed ministers, at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

Indonesia's new President Prabowo Subianto, center, and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, left, shake hands with newly-appointed ministers after announcing their cabinet lineup at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

Newly appointed cabinet ministers stand behind Indonesia's new President Prabowo Subianto, center, as he announces his cabinet lineup at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

Indonesia's new President Prabowo Subianto, center, announces his cabinet lineup of newly-appointed ministers, at Merdeka Palace, in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Gunmen fatally shot at least seven people working on a strategic tunnel project in Indian-controlled Kashmir and injured at least five others, officials said on Monday.

Police blamed militants fighting against Indian rule for what they called a “terror attack” at a camp for construction workers near the disputed region’s resort town of Sonamarg.

Police said at least two gunmen fired “indiscriminately” at officials and workers associated with the construction, leaving two dead on the spot. At least 10 others were taken to hospital, where five more died. The attack came shortly after workers returned to their lodgings on Sunday night. There was no immediate independent confirmation of the attack.

The dead included five non-local laborers and officials, one Kashmiri worker and a Kashmiri doctor.

Reinforcements of police and soldiers launched search operations in the area to nab the attackers.

Omar Abdullah, the region's top elected official, condemned the attack in a post on social media platform X, calling it “dastardly & cowardly.”

Hundreds of people, mostly non-local laborers, are working on the ambitious tunnel project that aims to connect the Kashmir Valley with Ladakh, a cold desert region that is isolated for half the year because of massive snowfalls. Experts say the tunnel project is important to the military, which will gain significantly improved capabilities to operate in Ladakh.

The strategically important region shares de facto borders with Pakistan and China, and Indian and Chinese soldiers have been engaged in a military standoff there since 2020. Both countries have stationed tens of thousands of soldiers there, backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets.

Sunday’s attack was the second attack on a non-local worker in the region since a largely powerless local government was sworn into office Wednesday, following the first local elections since India stripped the region of semi-autonomy five years ago.

On Friday, body of a worker from eastern Bihar state, riddled with bullet wounds, was recovered from a maize field in southern Shopian district, police said. They blamed militants for the killing.

Kashmir has witnessed a spate of killings, many targeting workers from other parts of India, since 2021. Police say the killings, which have also included local Muslim village councilors, police officials and civilians, have been carried out by anti-India rebels.

India and Pakistan each administer a part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety. The nuclear-armed rivals have fought two of their three wars over the territory since they gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947.

Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

India insists that Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and many Kashmiris consider it a freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.

Indian soldiers guard during the Kashmir Marathon in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan)

FILE -A bus carrying journalists takes a tour of the under construction Z-Morh tunnel in Sonamarg, northeast of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Sept. 28, 2021. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin, File)