T

he massive street protests that were promised by angry student activists after the government raised subsidized-fuel prices did not materialize, thanks largely to the commendable public familiarization of the politically risky move conducted by the Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo administration prior to the decision.

Demonstrations in major cities across the country were lackluster and short-lived due to weak support from the public and the media alike. The support for the government policy from the middle and upper classes nullified the resistance led by a few student groups and politicians.

The feared violence occurred only in Makassar, South Sulawesi '€” the hotbed of violent demonstrations where there is nothing new about students clashing with police and vandalizing public property including, ehrm, their own campuses.

But the danger is not over yet for Jokowi. In the coming weeks, the political battlefield will move to Senayan where lawmakers from the opposition parties, Gerindra, the Golkar Party, the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the National Mandate Party (PAN) and the Democratic Party dominate the House of Representatives.

Grouped in the Red-and-White Coalition, politicians from the opposition parties have threatened to launch an interpellation, a legislative right that lawmakers wield to start an inquiry into any government policy, which could lead to impeachment of the President.

They accuse President Jokowi of raising the fuel prices without prior consultation with the House. For its part, the government has insisted that the decision was its prerogative and was urgently made to save some Rp 300 trillion (US$ 24.8 billion) in fuel subsidies it badly needs to improve people'€™s welfare and build infrastructure.

The Great Indonesia Coalition of parties backing Jokowi, comprising the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the NasDem Party, Hanura, the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the United Development Party (PPP), suspects the Red-and-White'€™s ultimate goal is to impeach Jokowi.

 While Jokowi still enjoys a high degree of popular support in his first weeks in office, the oppositionists'€™ interpellation plan does not seem to pose a serious threat. Moreover, opposition parties like Golkar are beset by internal rifts with some factions lending their support to Jokowi.

 The fuel issue will continue to generate much heat with Jokowi forging ahead with his intention to clean up the mess in the oil and gas sector, which has long been plagued by corruption involving a '€œmafia'€ that his predecessors did not, or would not, dare touch.

On Tuesday he appointed Amien Sunaryadi, a former senior official with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), to lead the graft-ridden Upstream Oil and Gas Regulatory Special Task Force (SKKMigas). That followed the appointment of economist Faisal Basri to head the new Oil and Gas Management Reform Team.

Together with Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said, whom Jokowi touts as a former '€œcourageous anti-corruption activist'€, Amien and Faisal are expected to spearhead the government'€™s reform of the oil and gas sector.

While Jokowi has been overwhelmed with praise for his appointment of reputable figures in his Cabinet as well as his more recent picks of Amien and Faisal, he has had his soft-but-tough image badly dented by his choice of NasDem politician and veteran prosecutor Prasetyo as the new attorney general.

His preference for a politician rather than a career attorney or an antigraft activist for a post that will play a vital role in his quest for clean governance is a colossal disappointment largely because Prasetyo'€™s track record is questionable as both an attorney and lawmaker. The highest position that Prasetyo held as a prosecutor was junior attorney general for general crimes from 2005 through 2006, when he was forced to retire after being implicated in a flurry of controversial rulings. He joined NasDem and won his legislative seat this year.

Adding a twist to the mystery is that Jokowi consulted neither the KPK nor the Financial Transactions Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) about Prasetyo, as he had done when selecting his ministers. This lack of his trademark transparency has led to theories that the President caved in to pressure from NasDem patriarch Surya Paloh, a media tycoon.

Until Prasetyo'€™s appointment was announced, Jokowi'€™s inner circle had floated several familiar names as attorney-general candidates: junior attorney general for special crimes Widyo Pramono; PPATK chief Muhammad Yusuf; and former judicial mafia task force member Mas Achmad Santosa.

By appointing Prasetyo, Jokowi broke the promise he made after he won the presidential race that he would seek a non-political figure, well-versed in law enforcement and competent enough to reform the Attorney General'€™s Office (AGO).

His major challenge ahead is to reform the AGO'€™s bureaucracy and boost public trust that has been eroded by corruption as apparent from the prosecution and conviction of prosecutors. Judicial corruption remains among the worst in Indonesia, various surveys have shown.

The institution has been notorious for backlogs, acquittals of big-time graft suspects, dropping cases for dubious reasons and a reluctance to track down graft suspects who fled overseas or to recover graft convicts'€™ assets hidden overseas.

The AGO has also been under public scrutiny for its reluctance to resolve numerous cases of gross human-rights violations involving powerful individuals in the military.

Prasetyo ought to prove that despite his perceived mediocre track record, he is a competent attorney general and Jokowi should honor his promise to remove underperforming aides as he did as Jakarta governor.

'€” Pandaya