Dr. Alexander R Arifianto is a Research Fellow in the Indonesia Programme at RSIS. In an opinion piece, he weighed in on how Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s decision to reshuffle his cabinet to replace six ministers including the Minister of Religious Affairs, would affect the country. “Yaqut Cholil Qoumas is a member of parliament from the National Awakening Party, affiliated with the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia’s largest Muslim organisation. Qoumas’ appointment is a sign that Widodo is making amends with NU, one of Widodo’s key supporters during his 2019 re-election campaign,” he wrote.

 …Alexander R Arifianto is a Research Fellow in the Indonesia Programme at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.