KEY PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER FAVORS FINANCE MINISTER

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 000495 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/RSP E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/18/2019 TAGS: PGOV KDEM ID SUBJECT: KEY PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER FAVORS FINANCE MINISTER FOR VP Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission John Heffern for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Presidential Adviser for International Affairs Dino Djalal (protect) told Embassy March 17 that he hopes that President Yudhoyono will pick Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati as his vice presidential candidate. Djalal is very confident that the President will win re-election. ¶2. (C) Djalal stressed that he was speaking personally, and that President Yudhoyono had made no decision. He said that Sri Mulyani was clean (she refuses even to accept free movie tickets),competent (as evidenced by her handling of the financial crisis) and courageous (she threatened to resign when her decision to resume trading of Bakrie stock was overturned). Djalal insisted that, despite being a technocrat with no party affiliation, Sri Mulyani has a political consituency. He said that many Indonesian women would support a competent female candidate. HUME