Inner Circle Keeps Growing

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO

President Joko Widodo (fourth left) presents seven of his newly appointed Presidential special staff at Merdeka Palace on Thursday (21/11/2019) in Jakarta. All hailing from the so-called millennial generation, the seven are (from left): Andi Taufan Garuda, Ayu Kartika Dewi, Adamas Belva Syah Devara, Gracia Billy Yosaphat Membrasar, Putri Indahsari Tanjung, Angkie Yudistia, and Aminuddin Ma\'ruf.

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has appointed seven young people as part of his special staff. The inner circle of the presidential palace and this administration is bigger than that of the 2014-2019 term.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The inner circle of the presidential palace and government of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Vice President Ma’ruf Amin is bigger compared with Jokowi’s first term with vice president Jusuf Kalla. Unless coupled with clear and measured performance targets, this condition can just threaten the government’s effectiveness.

The inner circle has noticeably expanded after several new appointments were made, including 14 Presidential special staff and 8 Vice Presidential special staff.

More officials may be installed, as several positions are still vacant, including the Education and Culture Deputy Minister as stipulated in Presidential Regulation No. 72/2019 on the Ministry of Education and Culture, and Research and Technology Deputy Minister as stipulated in Presidential Regulation No. 73/2019 on the Ministry of Research and Technology. The post of the Deputy Commander of the Indonesian Military (TNI) also remains vacant.

Several positions also remain to be filled on the Presidential Advisory Council (Wantimpres) and the Presidential Office (KSP).

Presidential Spokesman Fadjroel Rachman emphasized on Thursday (21/11/2019) in Jakarta that the posts like the Presidential special staff would be filled according to need, rather than to accommodate particular interests.

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO

President Joko Widodo (fourth left) poses with seven of his newly appointed Presidential special staff at Merdeka Palace on Thursday (21/11/2019) in Jakarta. He has also retained seven other members of the “old guard” Presidential special staff from his first term.

He also said that having a large inner circle did not make for an ineffective government. “A distinction should be made between structural and functional offices. The Wantimpres, KSP and Special Envoy posts are not structural, but rather merely functional or to assist the President and Vice President, so they don’t increase the government’s workload,” he added.

Need for fresh ideas

The President presented yesterday seven of his 14 special staffers; all are from the millennial generation aged 23-36 and have diverse areas of expertise.

The seven special staffers are: Ruang Guru learning application founder Adamas Belva Syah Devara, 29, Creativepreneur CEO Putri Indahsari Tanjung, 23, PT Amarta microfinancing institute CEO Andi Taufan Garuda Putra, 32, peace activist Ayu Kartika Dewi, 36, Kitong Bisa CEO Gracia Billy Mambrasar, 31, sociopreneur Angkie Yudistia, 32, who is a person with with disability, and former PMII general chairman Aminuddin Ma’ruf, 32.

Meanwhile, the seven other special staffers are all familiar faces and were announced in a press statement from Presidential Spokesman Fadjroel, who is also the Presidential special staff for communication. Aside from Fadjroel, the six others are: AAGN Ari Dwipayana, Sukardi Rinakit (political affairs), Arif Budimanta (economic affairs spokesman), Diaz Hendropriyono (social affairs), Dini Shanti Purwono (legal affairs spokesperson) and Anggit Nugroho, the personal assistant to the President.

Jokowi said that members of the millennial generation were appointed as special staffers because the government needed fresh and innovative ideas. “These seven young people will be my partners in daily, weekly, monthly discussions to offer fresh and innovative ideas so that we can find new and out-of-the-box methods for advancing the state,” he said.

The innovations, ideas and breakthroughs offered by the millennial special staffers were expect to help resolve a number of the country’s problems.

He also expressed hope that the presence of the new special staffers would help facilitate state management. The innovations, ideas and breakthroughs offered by the millennial special staffers were expect to help resolve a number of the country’s problems.

Special staffer Billy said that he was committed to assisting the President and to bring a new work environment to the government. “We will try to create a different sense of contemporariness and technology to develop a more effective and efficient government,” he said.

Contradiction

House of Representatives Commission II member Saan Mustopa expressed hope that President Jokowi would soon fill any posts that remained vacant by the yearend, so thathe government would be functioning fully by early 2020 t. Saan warned that the President Jokowi and Vice President Amin’s decision to form many new positions would leave the impression that the government was only apportioning power.

In contrast, a cumbersome line-up had been formed in the Cabinet and the palace.

Saan also said that forming a “big tent” administration contradicted the Jokowi-Amin vision and mission, especially concerning bureaucratic reform, the efficiency of which Jokowi was encouraging through bureaucratic trimming. In contrast, a cumbersome line-up had been formed in the Cabinet and the palace.

Responding to Jokowi’s expanding bureaucracy, public policy lecturer Gitadi Tegas Supramudyo from Surabaya’s Airlangga University warned that special staff, deputy ministers and other additional posts should be accompanied by measurable performance targets. (NTA/LAS/INA)