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Politicians and media lament a lost year for Jokowi govt

Today’s first anniversary of the Joko “Jokowi” Widodo administration brought a common theme as supporters and detractors alike both lamented a year of “lost opportunities” and internal division that undermined the effectiveness of governance

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Tue, October 20, 2015 Published on Oct. 20, 2015 Published on 2015-10-20T18:12:23+07:00

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Politicians and media lament a lost year for Jokowi govt

T

oday'€™s first anniversary of the Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo administration brought a common theme as supporters and detractors alike both lamented a year of '€œlost opportunities'€ and internal division that undermined the effectiveness of governance.

Taufik Basari of the central board of the NasDem Party, a coalition supporter of the President, conceded that many of the key programs set out by the government had been far from satisfactory.

He conceded that there might be growing dissatisfaction among the public, adding that many of the programs pledged during the campaign period were still in their earliest phases.

'€œHopefully, within one or two years we will start to see changes,'€ he said in Jakarta on Monday. '€œWe have to remain optimistic'€.

Meanwhile, secretary of the Golkar faction at the House of Representatives, Bambang Soesatyo, said the biggest challenge for the Jokowi administration was the internal disputes within the government itself.

'€œThe problems lie within the inner circle of government itself[...] They remain trapped in unfilled campaign promises,'€ remarked the politician whose party represents the leading faction in opposition to the government.

Once considered a '€œmedia darling'€, much of the mainstream media has become progressively critical of the government over the course of the past 12 months.

The Indonesian Chief Editor'€™s Forum, which comprises editors from almost all the major media outlets across the country, on Monday, also issued a damning assessment of Jokowi'€™s first year.

While describing the past year as a valuable lesson for the government, its statement also bemoaned it as a '€œlost opportunity'€ to make inroads and progress needed for the country.

'€œWhen the global economic condition worsened, the Jokowi-JK [Vice President Jusuf Kalla] government did not immediately respond in a manner that would stimulate the private sector and boost the buying power of the public,'€ the statement said ,while also adding that much of the focus of the Cabinet seemed to be absorbed by internal matters of ministries and government.

The statement further highlighted the concern that the numbers of people living in poverty and out of work had seen a perceptible rise since last year.

According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), the number of people living in poverty increased by 860,000 people from October 2014 to March 2015 with a total of 28.5 million people or about 11.2 percent of the population. The number of unemployed people also rose from 7.24 million in August 2014 to 7.45 million in February this year.

The forum also criticized the government'€™s unrealistic and overly ambitious targets such as tax collection, which was 30 percent higher than 2014.

'€œSuch a high target has pushed tax authorities to engage in a pursuit that has made business players uncomfortable,'€ the statement said.

The forum urged that both the President and Vice President act in tandem as a unified team so as to avoid perceived bickering that might arise.

It further went on to encourage the government to rebuild public trust and investor confidence by thoroughly executing many of the economic reform incentives recently announced.

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