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ational Development Planning Minister Andrinof Chaniago apparently did not realize how sensitive the timing was when he shared his feelings on his Facebook account about his meeting with Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia Tanizaki Yasuaki. He described the aggressiveness of foreign envoys in Jakarta in pressing their countries'€™ agendas for Indonesia. In particular he specified the name of Ambassador Tanizaki in promoting Japanese-funded projects in the country.

'€œThe Japanese ambassador sort of threatened [me during a meeting]. He said if projects were canceled there would be economic and political consequences. But I have to carry out actions on behalf of the Indonesian people. As a minister, I have to understand that he [as an ambassador] has to carry out his diplomatic functions as well,'€ wrote the scholar.

Andrinof was appointed to his position by President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo in November because Jokowi wanted Andrinof to prove his arguments and theories that he could provide much better development for Indonesia.

His remarks sparked controversy. The minister forgot one thing: the timing. It was a sensitive coincidence. He shared his personal views about the Japanese envoy on Jan. 12, three days before the 41st anniversary of anti-Japanese riots that took place on Jan. 15, 1974 in Jakarta. The Japanese Embassy in Jakarta clearly avoided responding to Andrinof'€™s remarks. Japanese-language newspaper Jakarta Shimbun reportedly quoted the minister'€™s Facebook statement. The minister himself later realized his blunder and then tried to play down the significance of the '€œincident'€.

Amid widespread usage of social media among ordinary Indonesians, Indonesian officials need to be more cautious in making public statements even when they are acting in a private capacity. Jakarta-based diplomats in Indonesia also need to be more conscious of the role of social media in their encounters with their Indonesian counterparts.

By coincidence or not, Trade Minister Rachmat Gobel revealed on Friday the government'€™s plan to ask Japan to review once again the Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (IJ-EPA), which was signed in 2008. There are growing sentiments among the Indonesian public that such a trade scheme was much more beneficial for Indonesia'€™s partner. The same dissatisfaction with other countries such as China is also widespread.

The Jakarta Post reported on Saturday that Indonesia'€™s imports from Japan rose by only 9.3 percent to US$27.09 billion in 2013 from 2009. Its exports increased 17.81 percent to $19.28 billion, according to Trade Ministry statistics.

'€œIn business, we must respect each other as well as give added value to our partners reciprocally,'€ said Rachmat, who plans to visit Japan for a trade and investment promotion tour.

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Meanwhile, Jokowi survived his first major political crisis on Friday evening when he, in a very Javanese way, succeeded in turning down the demand of his party boss and former president Megawati Soekarnoputri to install Gen. Budi Gunawan as the new National Police (Polri) chief even though the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) had declared the former adjutant of Megawati a graft suspect. Jokowi appointed Polri deputy chief Comr. Gen. Badrodin Haiti as acting police chief, replacing Gen. Sutarman who will officially retire in October.

Budi won nearly unanimous endorsement from the House of Representatives on Thursday when the President decided Budi would be the new police boss. Usually, House legislators and factions are very hostile against the government.

Many people at the grassroots level, especially those who supported and voted for Jokowi during the July 9 presidential election, warned the President that they would no longer trust Jokowi if he could not say no to Megawati. They said his act would be regarded as a betrayal of millions of voters who decided it was Jokowi and not his rival Prabowo Subianto that should lead in Indonesia for five years until October 2019.

It is true that Megawati has a strong tendency to control Jokowi because it was her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) that nominated him in the presidential race along with Jusuf Kalla as his running mate. But Jokowi could also easily tell Megawati '€œI have a direct mandate from Indonesian voters to become president.'€ Megawati needs to remember that, for many Indonesians, she has become history, a matter of the past. Megawati and Jokowi need each other and they are equal partners.

Megawati and other members of the Great Indonesia Coalition will continue to benefit from the government. Jokowi himself does not have his own party. It is ridiculous that the daughter of the country'€™s first president Sukarno has acted as an empress. She promoted Jokowi because she knew very well that for most of Indonesians '€œenough is enough'€ in terms of her leading the country. Megawati ruled Indonesia from 2001 to 2004 in her position as vice president because Abdurrahman '€œGus Dur'€ Wahid was forced to abandon his presidential seat in 2001.

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When you read this review this Sunday, you will not be able to get a report on the realization of the execution of six drug traffickers in Nusakambangan and Boyolali, both in Central Java, which was carried out by firing squad very early on Sunday.

They were executed following the President'€™s rejection of their clemency appeals. In his presidential election campaign, Jokowi made it very clear that he would not show any mercy to drug traffickers, saying that millions of Indonesians have become victims of drug abuse. More than 50 death-row convicts are now awaiting execution.

'€” Kornelius Purba