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Jokowi team eyes 'mafia' crackdown
The transition team of president-elect Joko âJokowiâ Widodo has been largely operating in secrecy
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he transition team of president-elect Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo has been largely operating in secrecy. But the team's end goal may well justify the means as it is working on a Herculean task of identifying 'business mafias' that have long posed an impediment to transformative policies.
Aside from drafting working programs for Jokowi once he assumes office on Oct. 20, the team has been working on profiling the major business cabals and recommending ways of eliminating their dominance.
Jokowi, widely regarded for his integrity and clean track record, has highlighted his intention to keep his transition team's operations out of the public eye over concerns they could be influenced by pressure from vested interests.
While the outgoing Jakarta governor has refused to elaborate further on the nature of the operation, one of the team's four deputies, Hasto Kristiyanto, made it clear that one of the team's tasks was to identify the 'mafias'.
'In the future, the government must not surrender to the mafias by compromising the public interest,' Hasto, who is also the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDI-P) deputy secretary-general, said recently.
'We need figures who are brave enough to address the root cause of the country's chronic problems.'
Regardless of the team's effectiveness in achieving this particular goal, the effort is consistent with the pledge voiced by Jokowi during his presidential campaign.
The two have repeatedly voiced the concern that business rackets impeded policymakers from carrying out policies that were accountable and pro-people, particularly in the energy sector. They have also highlighted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's lack of commitment to clamp down on such practices.
Irregularities in policies regulating the energy sector have been of particular interest for Jokowi's team, as during Yudhoyono's 10-year term the country became heavily reliant on fuel imports.
Policymakers have made no concrete attempts to cut fuel imports by building refineries at home, nor any aim at expanding the use of gas as an alternative fuel in power plants and motor vehicles.
'This country has been riddled by the mafias in the management of imports, haj [pilgrimage], oil and rice. All of these appeared complicated and the government seemed to display no courage for reform due to the many vested interests at play,' Jokowi said recently.
'I am a new figure with no past burdens. That's why I cannot be held hostage [by the business mafias],' he said.
Because identifying the figures that make up the mafias is a difficult job, Jokowi recently agreed to include former chief of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), AM Hendropriyono, as a member of his transition team.
Despite the controversy surrounding Hendropriyono's appointment, the seasoned spy is well regarded for having established the foundation for the reform of BIN after the fall of Soeharto's dictatorship in 1998.
'Hendropriyono has skills in intelligence and that will be useful for the team's work,' transition deputy Andi Widjajanto said.
Concerns over the potential of collusion between politicians and the business cabals may help explain the limited involvement of political parties in Jokowi's transition team.
The Jokowi-Jusuf Kalla ticket was endorsed by four parties: the PDI-P, the NasDem Party; the National Awakening Party (PKB); and the Hanura Party.
'We are always open to input from any [political] parties. We particularly welcome any suggestions or ideas from them,' Andi said.
Andi also denied rumors suggesting Kalla had been left out of the team because the latter's business ties posed a possible threat to the autonomy of the mission.
'We have discussed the issue in the transition team with Kalla several times and we will see if he has ideas and proposals,' Andi said.
Ahmad Erani Yustika, an economist from Brawijaya University in Malang, East Java, praised the team's commitment to identifying those behind the business rackets and seeking ways to disrupt their dominance.
'The next government must address the mafias in the energy sector first before considering any cuts to the fuel subsidy by raising fuel prices,' he said.
Erani added that while the fuel subsidy was often the subject of debate, the government consistently overlooked inefficiency allegedly caused by the business rackets in the imports of subsidized fuel.
Indonesia imports more than 70 percent of its fuel and crude oil to be used as subsidized energy.
Spending on fuel subsidies would rise by 18 percent, or Rp 44.6 trillion (US$3.81 billion), to Rp 291.1 trillion according to the proposed 2015 state budget presented by Yudhoyono to lawmakers on Thursday.
'The public may well accept the rise in fuel prices if the government shows them that it is serious in combating the fuel mafia first,' said Erani.
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