It’s Time to Look at Specific Issues
Public appreciation to the performance of the Jokowi-Kalla government seems to have thus far declined, compared to six months ago. The management of issues apparently has to be more sharply carried out by the government.
The management of issues seems to have increasingly become the concern of the government of Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Jusuf Kalla. The last year of the administration period is a vulnerable period for every government. Especially at present there are a number of shifts related to appreciation to government performance.
After showing a rising trend of appreciation, that increased significantly from April 2017 to April 2018, at the beginning of October there was a downward trend in appreciation. The periodic survey conducted by Kompas Research and Development Division on Sept. 24 to Oct. 5, 2018, recorded the assessment of public satisfaction in general now at 65.3 percent. That means a decrease by 6.9 percent compared to the public appreciation in April 2018, which reached the highest figure of 72.2 percent. The current rate of decline is outside the margin of error of the study at plus minus 2.8 percent.
The present level of public appreciation is equivalent to the survey results of the first three months of the government (January 2015) at 65.1 percent and the survey results of the two-year government (October 2016) at 65.9 percent.
The up and down of public appreciation shows the absorption of information and public perceptions of various measures and policies taken by the Jokowi-Kalla government. However, not just for the government actions, the appreciation was also formed through all issues and events that covered the six-month period from April 2018 to early October.
Of the four indicators used as the basis for performance appraisal, the highest rate of reduction in satisfaction occurred in the legal field, namely 9.5 percent. In April 2018, the level of satisfaction stood at 66.0 percent and now fell to 56.5 percent. A significant decline in appreciation also occurred in the field of social welfare with an appreciation of 65.7 percent or down 8.4 percent from the previous period (74.1 percent).
What is quite surprising is that the economy, which in recent years has been widely discussed by the public, has still had a high level of appreciation, which was relatively the same with the past six months. General satisfaction with the government\'s performance in the economy relatively remained at 51 percent, even though if viewed in more detailed aspects several economic sectors were recorded to decline.
Meanwhile, appreciation to the political and security sector was still consistently high and was the best than the other three indicators. Jokowi\'s expertise in managing political issues was evident from the level of public satisfaction which reached 73.8 percent, only down 2.1 percent from six months ago.
This shift in appreciation is certainly an important note for Jokowi, who will again compete in the 2019 presidential election in tandem with KH Ma\'ruf Amin.
A number of issues
Within the past six months, public spaces have been filled with various issues. Not only political and economic issues, but also related to a number of earthquake disasters in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, as well as in Palu, Sigi, and Donggala, Central Sulawesi.
The issue of poverty rates, employment, plans to import rice, the value of the rupiah against the US dollar, the act of changing the president, to the hoax by Ratna Sarumpaet fill various media reports. Entering the campaign period of the 2019 general election, various events have become influential aspects for public appreciation to the government performance.
The recent strengthening of the exchange rate of the US dollar against rupiah seems to influence perceptions in the public mind regarding pressure on the national economy. This was indicated by the assessment of public satisfaction over the government\'s performance in controlling the rupiah exchange rate, which experienced largest decline in satisfaction rate, namely reaching 13.8 percent.
Until the end of the survey on Oct. 5, 2018, the weakening of the rupiah against the US dollar if calculated from the beginning of the year was recorded at 12 percent, from Rp 13,542 per US dollar (Jan. 2, 2018) to Rp 15,182 per US dollar. The public response to this condition had been recorded in the April 2018 survey period, when satisfaction with the government measures to deal with rupiah depreciation fell to 39.7 percent from the previous 51 percent in October 2017.
The public apparently understand the domestic economic condition was also influenced by external factors, such as the US-China trade war and rising world oil prices. This was indicated by the respondent\'s answers that assessed external factors as the most influential to the current prices of goods. However, the public still expects the government\'s ability to overcome the impact of the condition, especially related to prices of demands on the domestic market.
The handling of legal issues also corrected the level of public satisfaction with the government. Buying and selling legal cases is one with the lowest appreciation levels. Meanwhile, for the eradication of terrorism, drugs and corruption relatively still get appreciation from more respondents.
In the past six months, the public had been treated to a series of major corruption cases. Cases such as corruption in the procurement of electronic ID cards, involving the former Speaker of the House of Representatives Setya Novanto, the case of the Riau-1 Steam Power Plant project involving former Social Affairs Minister Idrus Marham, as well as the arrest of a number of regional heads and members of local legislative councils.
The uncovering of these cases on the one hand shows the achievement that the eradication of corruption is increasingly carried out in order to realize a clean and respected government. However, on the other hand, the fact that a number of suspects had been part of the government also weakened public perception. The level of public appreciation of the performance of corruption eradication is now 57.0 percent from the previous 63.2 percent in April 2018.
Social welfare
In the midst of a number of programs, such as national health insurance and education guarantees,
which are carried out by the Jokowi-Kalla government, doubts – even though still relative in nature -- have also begun to emerge in the field of social welfare.
The issues of poverty and employment, adjustment of Social Security Management Agency (BPJS) service procedures, and lack of BPJS funds in the midst of subsidized efforts by the state are factors that seem to destabilize public confidence. If previously the number of public satisfaction in the field of social welfare was the highest, now the number began to erode. In this survey, the level of satisfaction in the social welfare field was at 67.9 percent, down from the previous survey period of 77.2 percent.
However, a number of aspects of social welfare, such as equitable development, attention to fishermen and farmers, and the development of traditional markets, still receive high appreciation from respondents.
Besides the level of satisfaction with the government\'s performance, in this survey, the decline also occurred in Jokowi\'s self-image. The positive image of President Jokowi is now at 81.9 percent or down 4.9 percent from his image in April 2018 (86.8 percent). However, the figure above 80 percent is still relatively high and is a strong social capital for Jokowi.
Public perceptions on government performance are crucial because Jokowi competes again as a presidential candidate in the 2019 general election. Based on the survey results, Jokowi\'s self-image trend from January 2015 to October 2018 formed a pattern similar to the trend of satisfaction with his government performance. Even though if seen from the figure, the president\'s image is higher than satisfaction with the government\'s performance.
At present, the level of public confidence in the improvement of the political, legal, economic and social welfare sectors is still high, at an average of 75.0 percent. Now is the time for Jokowi-Kalla to take advantage of that confidence to correct the factors that cause the decline in satisfaction. Does the problem deal with the problems in the field, management, or political communication factor?
Work on specific issues must be done by taking into consideration that the public can be disrupted if the issues that are not directly related to their lives turn out to be closer and felt more pressing. (SUGIHANDARI/LITBANG KOMPAS