President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo must be tougher and more decisive in handling Indonesia'€™s economic sluggishness, one expert has said, adding that the slow economy has not been helped by prolonged political turmoil among ministers and high-ranking officials in Jokowi'€™s administration.

Pelita Harapan University political communications expert Tjipta Lesmana said on Tuesday that three major problems '€“ overlapping duties between President Jokowi and Vice President Jusuf Kalla, sharp differences in economic standpoints among ministers and officials and poor coordination between ministries and other government institutions '€“ had dogged the country'€™s economic progress.

Unless Jokowi improves, Tjipta told thejakartapost.com on Tuesday, "our economy will get worse; foreign investors will lose their trust; and the rupiah exchange rate will continue its downward trend. In the end, it is our people who will become victims."

The expert said Jokowi's weak communication skills had damaged the public'€™s trust. At the same time, he added, Kalla'€™s toughness and leadership skills had often portrayed him as the decision maker.

"Ideally, a President draws up policies to be implemented by the ministers. A Vice President meanwhile, bears the responsibility of monitoring the implementation of the policies,'€ he said.

Tjipta said also that sharp differences in economic paradigms adopted by ministers and high-ranking officials of President Jokowi'€™s administration had intensified internal conflicts and rivalries, such as a recent conflict between Kalla and Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Rizal Ramli.

'€œRizal is adopting the people'€™s economic principle while Kalla is pro neo-liberalism,'€ he said.

The expert said poor coordination between ministries and non-ministry government institutions, such as Bank Indonesia (BI), had also worsened the situation. Polemics surrounding the government'€™s plan to reduce fuel prices had shown that Jokowi was not decisive enough to handle his administration.

On Sept. 30, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Sudirman Said announced that fuel prices for the period of October-December would remain unchanged, and be evaluated every three months.

The following day, President Jokowi asked Sudirman and state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina to examine the possibility of reducing fuel prices. The President planned to include fuel-price cuts as part of his third economic stimulus package.

Tjipta said up till now, there had been no definite decision of fuel price cuts.

'€œEven BI governor Agus Martowardojo has suggested that the fuel-price reduction is aimed at merely boosting Jokowi'€™s popularity,'€ he said.

Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (Indef) executive director Enny Sri Hartati said the government should focus on prompt solutions to boost society'€™s weak purchasing power in its third economic policy package, set to be announced this week. In doing so, she said, BI as a monetary authority could have room to ease its monetary policy, such as by reducing its benchmark interest rate (BI rate).

'€œIf the central bank does not ease its monetary policy, there could be massive capital flights, which may have a negative impact on our balance of payment, eventually affecting our exchange rate,'€ Enny said.

The third economic stimulus package to be launched this week is aimed at boosting investment, spurring exports and maintaining people'€™s purchasing power. (ebf)(++++)

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