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The end of the beginning
A special report by The Jakarta Post reviewing the first 100 days of President Joko Widodoâs administration In the early days of the new presidency the headlines, at home and abroad, told a story of great optimism
A special report by The Jakarta Post reviewing the first 100 days of President Joko Widodo's administration
In the early days of the new presidency the headlines, at home and abroad, told a story of great optimism. 'The great hope of Indonesian democracy' read a headline in Australian newspaper The Age.
The Economist in a special report wrote: 'He may not be the most flamboyant of reformers, but he may yet prove the right man for the job'. The BBC ushered in the newly appointed president under the heading of a 'New Era', while the New York Times carried a restrained yet positive description of 'A cautious reformer as Indonesia's next president'.
These headlines may well be considered suitable plaudits for President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo, but in actual fact they are not!
They were headlines published in September and October. Not, however, in 2014, but a decade earlier to welcome the ascendence of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to the presidency.
This is a harbinger of how quickly perceptions change. A primer in 'lessons learned' for any Indonesian leader.
Indonesia's first directly elected president ended his tenure in social ridicule. His term in office described as a decade of missed opportunities.
It is, of course, much too early to pass judgement on the seventh president.
The '100 days' measure is a nefarious scale for any incoming executive at whatever level, let alone a president of the world's third-largest cacophony (read: democracy).
At best the most obvious distinction within this short period is a noticeable change in style. Substance is still some distance off requiring the distillation of policy and the sustenance of a proper budget.
At the outset the two priorities the President needed to accomplish, he achieved ' one with relative success, the other with much confusion and ongoing anxiety.
When he first assumed power, Yudhoyono was often styled as 'the thinking general'. Yet he left office under the caricature of an overly punctilious 'Mr. Indecisive'.
Jokowi's first task was to set a new tone of governance.
'Work, work, work' the new credo. Throw away the pomp, roll-up the formality, clear out the dirty laundry and just get things done.
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"Leaders are not remembered for their management skills, nor for their political guile ... but because they had moral capital.
Both he and Vice President Jusuf Kalla did so successfully. Infusing a new work ethic, albeit still only on the surface.
It was a page straight out of his old playbook as mayor of Surakarta and then governor of Jakarta. Jokowi's blusukan (impromptu visit) style continued, generating euphoria among the people and anxiety in officials afraid of being caught napping. His relaxed protocol-free demeanor pervaded even the way presidential security began to handle palace visitors.
As a manner of governance it was a break from the past, loved by the media searching for trite headlines that would be easily comprehensible to the layman.
For a government without a spokesman or a clear coordinated communications strategy, it got great press for an the initial few weeks. A government whose communication strategy often ran on anecdotes and bravado.
So successful was the new government in maintaining the public euphoria that it even felt little need to resort to the standard narrative of new administrations; blame the previous regime for the predicaments the new one faces.
But like all novelties, it eventually began to wear off.
What became increasingly obvious was that this was a government in training.
Despite the relative experience of the economic team, few gave a thumbs-up to the Cabinet. Most had little or no experience in the bureaucracy. That in itself is not a failing, but finding a balance between experience, trusted people and mavericks is key to any winning team.
And thus began the starting point of Jokowi's biggest battle and potentially worst failure of his first 100 days.
The second priority had to be the consolidation of his power base.
As a president who does not chair a political party and supported by a minority alliance in the House of Representatives, the politics of power was always going to be challenging.
Both shoring up support within his own alliance and augmenting the coalition in the House were major tasks that needed to be completed in the first few months of his administration.
Slowly but surely we have already seen the balance between coalitions in the House tilt toward the status quo. It is the nature of certain political parties and all politicians in this country to cozy up to the center of power.
Not all parties have the fortitude of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which clung faithfully to being in opposition for 10 years during Yudhoyono's rule.
On a practical level, almost all of the leaders of the opposition parties are businessmen by profession or have made business their craft. None of them can afford a sustained political impasse that would ultimately be detrimental to the economy.
The toughest part, however, has been settling the dust within Jokowi's own coalition. Who is truly in power, who is the most influential is what lies behind the controversial appointments to several high-ranking posts, the attorney general and most recently the National Police chief.
Jokowi has tried to play safe when it comes to facing party chairpersons such as the PDI-P's Megawati Soekarnoputri and the NasDem Party's Surya Paloh. He has avoided direct confrontation while maneuvering to still be his own man, and even perhaps soon establish enough capital to become an independent leader without undue pressure from his political 'backers'.
But leaders are not remembered for their management skills, nor for their political guile. Indonesia has had more chequered leaders 'Sukarno and Abdurrahman 'Gus Dur' Wahid come to mind ' than Yu-dhoyono, but who are nonetheless remembered fondly by their people because they had moral capital. It is that same capital that swept Jokowi so quickly to power.
Too much political maneuvering without displaying enough spine will diminish this. Swapping moral capital for political capital may see him survive his term but do little to enhance his remaining 1,726 days in office.
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The writer is the Editor-in-Chief of The Jakarta Post.
