New Indonesia ministers face host of challenges

Jakarta

THE new Cabinet of Indonesian President Joko Widodo is drawing mixed reviews amid worries the slate of names may be ill-equipped to address the country's slowing economy or the woeful state of its infrastructure and services.

Mr Joko's 34-member "working Cabinet" was inaugurated on Monday after repeated delays amid criticism that he failed to live up to promises to deliver an administration free of patronage politics.

Instead, some of the country's most powerful ministries were doled out according to party loyalties, underscoring for many the limits of Mr Joko's authority in his own party - the Indonesian Democratic Party - Struggle.

"This is the best he can do," said Philips Vermonte, head of the department of politics and international relations at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta.…