MINISTER DENIES SBY MET ICAL ON CABINET RESHUFFLE

Madiun, Jan 18 (ANTARA) - Minister/State Secretary Sudi Silalahi denied a rumor that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) and Golkar Party Chairman Aburizal (Ical) Bakrie had met to discuss a cabinet reshuffle.

There was a rumor that the president and Ical had met to discuss a cabinet reshuffle, including the replacement of Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati but Sudi denied it when accompanying President Yudhoyono in a working visit to Madiun, East Java, on Monday..

"President Yudhoyono has the right to meet with any figure but he has not discussed a cabinet reshuffle," Sudi said on the sidelines of a rain-tree planting drive led by the president around the Bening Widas Dam here.

Besides Silalahi, presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha also bluntly denied the rumor about an SBY-Ical meeting.

"Where is the information from? It is not true that there was a discussion about a cabinet reshuffle," said the presidential spokesman.

A national newspaper on Monday reported that President Yudhoyono and Ical had met to discuss a cabinet reshuffle, especially about the replacement of Finance Minister Sri Mulyani.

Relations between Ical and Sri Mulyani had soured after the latter refused to use government funds to buy the shares of Ical's companies during the 2008 monetary crisis.

Golkar's aggressive attitude in the Bank Century case was said to be a reflection of the party leader's wish to see Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati removed from the cabinet.