The President\'s Legacy
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (left) delivers a victory speech, accompanied by Ma’ruf Amin (second left), on Sunday (30/6/2019) during an open plenary meeting at the General Elections Commission (KPU) in Central Jakarta. Following Thursday’s Constitutional Court ruling in the election dispute resolution, the KPU formally declared Jokowi and Ma’ruf as the winners of the 2019 presidential election with 85,607,362 votes, or 55.50 percent of all votes.
According to predictions of several international institutions, Indonesia will become the fourth- or fifth-largest economic power in the world in the next two to three decades.
Relatively stable economic growth since 2010, rising investment and a demographic bonus driving household spending are the basis of these predictions. The 2019-2024 vision of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and vice president-elect Ma\'ruf Amin – Indonesia Moving Forward – is in line with these predictions and prioritizes the continued development of infrastructure and human resources, investment, bureaucratic reform as well as focused and targeted state budget spending.
A critical assessment of the optimistic forecasts for enlarging the country’s economic capacity (GDP) departs from the following fundamental arguments: How to achieve it amid widespread corruption, weak respect for human rights, an economic structure suffering from chronic inequality, substance-poor democracy and raging socio-political segregation that weakens national cohesion? The inclusion of these substantive determinants is aimed at reinforcing justice and human rights in achieving national goals.
Corruption
One measure of progresses of a nation is its tolerance of corruption. Even though Indonesia’s Corruption Perceptions Index (GPA) score has improved steadily over the past decade (from a GPA score of 28, ranking the country 111th in 2009 to a GPA of 38, or rank 89, in 2018), that is far from sufficient compared to the energy expended, inefficiency and the losses incurred. A study by Rimawan Pradiptyo and others (UGM, 2018) found that financial punishment only recovered around 10 percent of the Rp 203.9 trillion in losses the country incurred at the hands of 542 perpetrators of corruption in the 2001-2015 period. The study concluded that, in essence, the people subsidized corrupt officials (in the form of tax transfers). The social costs of corruption were estimated to be at least 2.5 times as high as the state losses (Rp 509.75 trillion).
Indonesia also does not have comprehensive data on corruption, which is why the corruption prevention and eradication scheme is still a work in progress. Included in this consideration is the legal umbrella, which is far from adequate, as a number of institutions are out of reach of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and amid the rise of political corruption due to businessmen-politician relations as well as the discovery of many business activities that are beyond the state and of pseudo legal character, especially in the exploitation of natural resources.
Massive and structured corruption in a political system that suffers from many moral defects has not prompted serious action to overcome the emergency situation. The KPK’s effort to spearhead the anticorruption drive, without support from reformed law enforcement institutions and an overhaul of the legislative system is unlikely to bring fundamental change in combating this extraordinary crime against humanity. The United Nations Anti-Corruption Convention reveals that, throughout the world, corruption is positively correlated with inequality, unemployment and fertility of conflicts. On the other
hand, corruption is negatively correlated with economic growth, quality human resources, democracy and investment.
Human rights crisis
The enforcement of human rights suffered a setback in the 2014-2018 period. The Human Rights Working Group Coalition (HRWG) gave Indonesia a Human Rights Index score of only 0.42 (on a range from the lowest of -1 to the highest score of 4) in 2018. The score is a combination of seven aspects of fulfilling human rights, namely ratification of international instruments, freedom of religion or belief, protection of human rights defenders, protection of migrant workers, fulfillment of the rights of persons with disabilities, women\'s rights, and resolution of past human rights violations. The HRWG concluded that there was no political will and a lack of capacity among state administrators to fulfill international human rights obligations translated in national-level action programs.
The settlement model can refer to John F. Kennedy\'s statement: “Forgiven but not forgotten”, so as not to experience similar things in the future.
Ignoring the issue of human rights and instead prioritizing the economic development agenda will only cause a continuance of latent conflicts. Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859) noted: "It is impossible for us to give birth to the future before resolving the dark past." In line with that, Nelson Mandela said, "Rejecting human rights means challenging humanity itself." Conflict resolution must be continued to ensure the certainty of stepping into the future without the burden of the past. Moreover, the promises of Nawacita have not been fulfilled yet. The settlement model can refer to John F. Kennedy\'s statement: “Forgiven but not forgotten”, so as not to experience similar things in the future.
Quality of human resources
The facts are more than clear that human resources are left behind in Indonesia. The workforce in 2019 is dominated by elementary school graduates (40.51 percent). The average length of schooling of the middle-to-lower-class population is only equivalent to junior high school (8.3 years). This reflects in the very low scores and ranking in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIACC) surveys. Low literacy and logic ability results in a decrease or loss of productivity, high health costs, loss of educational and learning processes at the individual and social level, limited advocacy rights due to low sociopolitical participation, the emergence of various forms of poverty and a rise of criminality.
The number of researchers is only 90 per 1 million people. Research funding is less than 0.1 percent of the GDP. Only five universities are in the list of the world\'s 1,000 highest-ranking universities. The ranking of innovation at the global level is 85th. The social capital or Human Capital Index (where Indonesia is ranked 87th of 157 countries) released by the World Bank in 2018 represents this aggregation of backwardness. Slow progress on the Human Development Index in the past two decades reinforces this impression.
Production, innovation and investment are closely related to the ability to improve the quality of the nation\'s human resources. At the macroeconomic level, the problem reflects in a current account deficit as a result of a fragile export industry, which requires high technological and innovation content.
Substance-poor democracy
Even though the implementation of elections as a procedural democratic rite has run relatively smoothly since the beginning of the Reform Era in 1998, the quality of democracy is far from expectations. The
political system creates high costs and gives birth to many mediocre politicians with strong oligarchic characteristics. Taxpayer funds are used to pay politicians of mediocre integrity and capacity, wrapped in religion-oriented politics and popularity, poor competence and integrity. National cohesion faces a serious threat even from the development of a political oligarchy without deliberation and public accountability.
On the contrary, the mixture of political and economic liberalism without adequate instruments of correction is plunging the people and the nation into a permanent cycle of power and capital struggles for the benefit of a small elite.
Besides fostering corruption, the political contest, in practice, strengthens fragmentation by promoting religion-oriented politics and encouraging sociopolitical division. The high cost of implementing democracy and a paradox-filled political system with limited benefits for the people and nation necessitate a comprehensive evaluation and correction. An increasingly sidelines Pancasila ideology in national politics puts in jeopardy the spirit of caring for pluralism, prioritizing unity, deliberation and justice. On the contrary, the mixture of political and economic liberalism without adequate instruments of correction is plunging the people and the nation into a permanent cycle of power and capital struggles for the benefit of a small elite.
The president’s legacy
In his campaign for the April 13 presidential election, Jokowi firmly stated that he had no past burden and would work hard to advance the nation in his second term in office. Proving this great determination requires a policy road map and an execution framework of strong determination. The crisis of corruption, current account deficit, inequality and poverty, low-quality human resources and democratic practices that do not promise progress, weak respect for human rights, an inefficient bureaucracy and strong egosectoral patterns clearly point to an emergency situation. Structural blockage is also a congenital defect, or continuum of the past.
The proposed solutions are neither fundamental nor sustainable, in part because they do not touch the essence of the problem. The asymmetry between growth and inequality, democracy and corruption, openness and illiteracy of knowledge, autonomy and independence is enough to teach a lesson about good governance not working. The President as a statesman must work to ensure that future generations are of better quality, smart in responding to changes and challenges by laying a bouncy foundation and vision for the future. The crisis should not be considered a threat but rather an opportunity to make big changes. The President\'s legacy will hinge on his ability to disentangle various distortions and at the same time build a strong base for the progress and honor of the nation.
Suwidi Tono, Coordinator of Becoming Indonesia Forum; Chairperson of Inter-Institutional Relations of Inter-University Anti-Corruption Movement
