Oligarchs with a country: Jokowi's team

Six days after his inauguration, and numerous false starts, Jokowi unwrapped his 34-member 'Working Cabinet', after the Corruption Eradication Commission had recommended the exclusion of eight candidates.

The ceremony on the Presidential Palace lawn had the ministry in identical white shirts. It was less than dignified; many ministers dashed across the grass to get in line, though such behaviour was clearly beneath human development and culture minister Puan Maharani; the ambitious but unpopular granddaughter of first president Sukarno just strode.

She could afford to take her time: Her mum is Megawati Sukarnoputri, the proud and stubborn leader of the PDIP-Party that sponsored Jokowi after advisors persuaded her not to stand for president, having been rejected by the electorate in the 2004 and 2009 elections. She and Puan gave him little support, reportedly saying he was only a 'party official'. There's much talk that she's the puppet master.

Foreign minister Retno Marsudi is a career diplomat and former Ambassador to the Netherlands, the first woman to hold the top job. Nine ministers have business backgrounds and nine are academics, including Adelaide University PhD graduate Pratikno, rector of Yogyakarta's University Gadjah Mada. He's the new State Secretary. Jokowi is a UGM science graduate, and so is Retno.

A major concern is the selection of former general Ryamizard Ryacudu, a noted hardliner and minister when Megawati was the fifth president. Human rights groups have condemned his promotion, alleging a bad record in Aceh where unsuccessful attempts were made to destroy local rebels through overwhelming brute force.

Unlike the Westminster system, ministers can be drawn from anywhere and are not always politicians or active members of parties. The response from the Jakarta commentariat to the Cabinet has been lukewarm, tinted with concern, largely because 14 politicians have been included, apparently for supporting the PDI-P rather than for their expertise and achievements, as promised in earlier Jokowi statements.

Jokowi and his Cabinet will need to ride the bureaucracy hard or the planned reforms to the nation's economy and infrastructure will never take root. Indonesia's 4.5 million khaki-uniformed bureaucrats are skilled in obfuscation, doing what they want, not what the politicians direct. Yes, Minister could have been written for Indonesia.

The President will also need to nip at the heels of some ministers, reminding them they're there to serve, not be served.

This month Indonesia scaled the peak of inflated expectations in the hype cycle; from now on our northern neighbour will be heading to the trough of disillusionment before the government rises to the plateau of productivity.

Along the way beware the oligarchs. They never forget and seldom forgive.