The Jokowi-JK administration has entered its 100th day. It is unfair to evaluate the new administration at this point for one particular reason: that the new government still runs on the budget prepared by the previous administration of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. This means that the new government'€™s room to maneuver is limited. The supplementary budget that may give some fiscal space to President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo is still being discussed in the House of Representatives.

Having said that, there are some issues worth pondering regarding the administration of Jokowi and Vice President Jusuf Kalla so far. President Jokowi basically has to continue three essential reform agendas: maintaining our electoral democracy including direct elections both at the national and local levels, advancing our decentralization to bring about better public service delivery and eradicating widespread corruption.

Yet in the past three months we have witnessed three difficult challenges that President Jokowi is facing. First, this government is a minority government, which means that its supporting parties are not the holders of the majority of seats in the House. In the short term, this situation is causing problems such as the controversy over the Legislative Institution Law No. 17/2014 (UU MD3) and possibly the discontinuation of direct elections achieved by the majority bloc in the House.

Therefore, the recent decision of the House to accept the government regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on the direct election of local leaders should be welcomed positively, although there is still the urgent matter of improving this regulation.

Second, in relation to the political parties, President Jokowi is not the strongest man in the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), as seen in the process of establishing the Cabinet, the allocation of the strategic structural positions, the latest controversy on the nomination of a new National Police chief and other issues. However, the highest constitutional power remains in the hands of the President because of our presidential system.

The PDI-P is arguably the stakeholder with the greatest interest in seeing the success of the Jokowi administration, as it is also a test for the PDI-P to prove its significance after the past 10 years being outside of national executive power.

Third, the international economic context is becoming more important. The US has not yet completely healed from the economic crisis in 2008 and Europe is also facing complications regarding the economic crisis suffered by several countries within the eurozone. Therefore, the target of 7 percent economic growth set by the Jokowi-JK administration is a tall order.

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" The biggest irony is that the PDI-P is now acting as if it were an opposition party in the House.

Democracy without economic welfare is something that is impossible to be preserved in the long term. Yet all the political sagas regarding the current conflict between the police and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) might well be distracting us from the economic issues that we really must concentrate on.

Regarding these three contexts, several issues are worth mentioning. First and foremost is the performance of all ministers. On the one hand, President Jokowi must evaluate their performances related to their respective portfolios. On the other, all ministers should be aware that the public is observing their performance. The recent controversial statement made by Coordinating Politics, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno, that public support for the KPK was absurd, is a concrete example of issues that should concern ministers and other officials. All ministers must realize that, and become the ferocious supporters of the basic vision of President Jokowi to make his administration people-centered. Engagement with the public is therefore the key.

Second, a government in a mature democracy requires checks and balances from the House. However, these check and balances should be conducted with propriety and acknowledgment of the constitutional authority of each branch of power. At the end, politics is about compromise among the elites. It is the art of the possible between them.

However, we all know that Jokowi is not the typical political party member. He was elected largely because the people trusted and wanted him to be the president. Therefore, any deal the President has to make with political players should not compromise the public interest for the continuation of our democracy and the all-out effort for corruption eradication, by creating an accountable and transparent government. The current issue involving the proposed National Police chief and the KPK serves as a reminder that President Jokowi is walking a thin line between compromising between oligarchic power and public aspirations. Should he fail to strike a balance, the public trust in him will likely quickly evaporate.

It has taken many by surprise, though, that the current government is lacking capable '€œpolitical operatives'€ that can bridge, and negotiate on behalf of, not only President Jokowi and the House, but more importantly between President Jokowi and his own party, the PDI-P. It is crystal clear by now that the President is sandwiched between political powers larger than him, be they the PDI-P or recalcitrant and unruly police officers. The political honeymoon period is over for President Jokowi and sadly it is his own party that has ended it.

The biggest irony is that the PDI-P is now acting as if it were an opposition party in the House. It may trigger some changes in power relations within the House regarding who is the ruling party (or parties) and who is in the opposition. That possibility should not be discounted.

Third, in the past three months we have seen, and will continue to see, the increasing power of the party elites and oligarchs. It is an irony to see the acclamation trend in our political parties, which basically shows the failure of political parties to democratize themselves.

In fact since 1998 there has been significant democratic reform in many institutions. For example, the Indonesian Military (TNI) has more or less '€œreturned to their barracks'€ and our media and civil society organizations also have more freedom. However, it is our political parties that still have not been internally democratized. Our political parties continue to be controlled by individuals, be they the founder, chairperson or treasurer.

Several party congresses are scheduled in 2015, including the Democratic Party, National Mandate Party (PAN), Gerindra and the PDI-P. Yet it is very likely that these party congresses will be conducted by acclamation. Most of the strongmen and women will be re-elected: Yudhoyono, Prabowo Subianto and Megawati Soekarnoputri.

It is hard to imagine that any party members will have the courage to challenge them in the internal party elections in the coming months. Yudhoyono, Prabowo and Megawati will be around 70 in 2019 and ironically will once again then decide the future of our democracy. These political parties should seriously initiate regeneration, to end the oligarchical interests that are the enemy of our democracy as they are closely related to corruption, collusion and nepotism. The new era has begun, yet the oligarchs refuse to accept that simple fact.

Fourth, in the past three months, we have yet to see sufficient attention being paid to Papua by the new administration. Under Yudhoyono there was a special unit to handle the issue in Papua (UP4B). President Jokowi needs to have a similar initiative. The issue of Papua reflects the wider decentralization issue across Indonesia, which is whether the program is indeed improving the welfare of local people.

The first 100 days should not define the performance of the Jokowi administration. The current administration has scored success in some areas '€” the removal of fuel subsidies immediately comes to mind '€” and it will face difficult challenges in others. Therefore, it is time to remember that no one should expect that President Jokowi will govern with ease given the complicated political context he and his team is operating in. President Jokowi is now in need of all out support from those who voted for him '€” much more than he needed them on July 9, 2014.

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The writer is the head of the department of politics and international relations at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Jakarta.

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