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resident Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo'€™s government is just about 40 days old, yet he has twice convened national meetings with provincial governors to discuss development and coordination issues. He also spent three days this week on an inspection of basic infrastructure, meeting regional leaders and local people in Lampung, Bengkulu and Riau provinces.

This again demonstrates Jokowi'€™s full understanding of the vital importance of cooperation and coordination with regional governments. As a former mayor of the Central Java city of Surakarta and governor of Jakarta, Jokowi understands the needs of regional administrations and fully realizes their important role in the national development process, especially after the 2001 launch of regional autonomy.

It is encouraging to know that the meetings were not just ceremonial but working conferences with vigorous exchanges of views. At his first meeting with the governors, Jokowi reminded them of the importance of timely and smooth budget execution because regional governments are now responsible for executing almost 40 percent of the national budget. He even warned them their annual grants from the national government could be cut if their budget management did not meet basic performance and accountability standards.

We also see Jokowi'€™s meetings with the provincial governors, his visits to the provinces and direct communications with the common people as his way of reaching out to regional leaders and the public at a time when the political climate is not conducive for a series of badly-needed reforms he will have to take within the next few months.

Reform is usually difficult during good times when economic growth is robust and the financial market is upbeat because the government and politicians become complacent. This was Indonesia'€™s condition during the commodity boom between 2010 and the first half 2013 when structural reforms virtually stalled.

But the economic situation worsened sharply after the end of the commodity boom, with growth falling to only about 5 percent and the rupiah languishing above 12,000 to the US dollar. Now should be a good moment to launch bold, yet painful reforms, as the politicians are supposed to be in a listening mood.

But that is not the political atmosphere now confronting the new President as most politicians in the House of Representatives, where the coalition supporting Jokowi is in the minority, instead try to harass the government. Worse still, President Jokowi also has to cope with division and rivalry within his own coalition of parties.

However, at the end of the day Jokowi will have to deal with an adversarial legislature as he expands his reforms and he badly needs stronger political capital in the House. The President, therefore, needs to make breakthroughs in several high profile projects that have been stalled for years because of land-acquisition problems or bureaucratic inertia to gain stronger confidence from parties now in the opposition camp in his capacity to make and implement policy.