The Jokowi-Amin administration faced some hard challenges in its first year. In the midst of discontent, however, the government is believed to be able to solve the problem.
By
SUHARTONO/RINI KUSTIASIH/ FX LAKSANA AS/ ANITA YOSSIHARA
·4 minutes read
JAKARTA, KOMPAS -- Various steps have been taken by the administration of Joko Widodo and Ma\'ruf Amin in its first year of office, especially in dealing with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Those steps have not completely satisfied the public. However, a majority is still convinced that the Jokowi-Amin administration is capable of solving the various problems the nation is facing.
In the first year, the Jokowi-Amin government was immediately confronted with the Covid-19 pandemic, which not only attacked public health but also the national economy. Various programs that had been planned since the beginning of the administration had to change as the focus shifted to dealing with Covid-19 and its impacts.
Indonesia is one of the countries that have succeeded in suppressing the rate of transmission and at the same time keeping the economic contraction under control
Since mid-March, the government has allocated state budget funds to the tune of Rp 677.2 trillion to deal with the direct and indirect impacts of Covid-19. Social aid has been disbursed through various programs to help people affected by Covid-19.
However, the government efforts have not yet fully satisfied the public. A telephone poll conducted by Kompas Research and Development (R&D) shows that 52.5 percent of the respondents are dissatisfied with the performance of the Jokowi-Amin administration over the past year. Only 45.2 percent expressed satisfaction.
Input for improvement
State Secretary Pratikno said on Monday (19/10/2020) that the government had tried to deal optimally with the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts.
"Indonesia is one of the countries that have succeeded in suppressing the rate of transmission and at the same time keeping the economic contraction under control," said Pratikno.
Now, with many residents are still unsatisfied, Pratikno continued, the government will continue to improve. "The government will continue to fix, improve and perfect all the ongoing steps every day," he added.
National Development Planning Minister/head of the National Development Planning Agency Suharso Monoarfa also said that the government had tried to adapt quickly when faced with the Covid-19 problem. He considered the adaptation successful. Not only did the government quickly adapt to the Covid-19 problem, it has taken steps for the (future) supply of the Covid-19 vaccine.
"The government is adaptive and some adjustments are made to reach a new equilibrium in such a way that we can adapt to the situation. For example, we do not sacrifice the economy and prioritize health, but we prioritize health without disregarding economic problems," said Suharso.
The executive director of Charta Politika, Yunarto Wijaya, said the Jokowi-Amin administration’s first-year leadership could not be judged from a normal perspective. This is because the first year was marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, which had a significant impact on economic conditions. This inevitable situation must also become one of the considerations in assessing the political, legal and economic performance.
The handling of the pandemic, Yunarto continued, would have an impact on public trust in the government.
According to Mada Sukmajati, a political science lecturer at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (Fisipol) of Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Jokowi-Amin\'s first year also could not be used as a measure of success or failure of Jokowi\'s second term, since it was only the first year and since Covid-19 had caused a very abnormal situation.
Apart from the Covid-19 situation, Mada agreed with a number of parties that the quality of democracy was deteriorating or experiencing regression in Indonesia. Numerous pieces of problematic legislation, such as the Job Creation Bill and the revision of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Law in 2019, illustrate this problem.
"This one year is material for evaluation and is a momentum for the government to review what is and has been happening," said Mada.
With political parties supporting the government controlling the majority of seats at the House of Representatives, Mada continued, Jokowi was considered free from structural obstacles, because the relationship between the executive and legislative was relatively smooth. However, the loss of structural barriers had not yet fully shown the birth of policies that are in line with the original vision and mission of the Jokowi-Amin administration.
High public confidence
Even though more than half of the respondents are dissatisfied with the government\'s performance, the results of a telephone poll conducted by Kompas Research and Development (R&D) show that there is still high public confidence in the ability of the Jokowi-Amin administration to solve the nation\'s problems. For example, 64.7 respondents believed that the government could solve social welfare problems.
Hendri Satrio, a political communication lecturer at Jakarta-based Paramadina University, revealed that the relatively high public trust was a social asset for the Jokowi-Amin government to improve its performance. He also expressed hope that the public confidence would not be wasted.
"This high public confidence can be Jokowi\'s social capital," he said.