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View Point: Jokowi’s hidden side as ‘little Soeharto’

Few would believe that Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, after defeating Prabowo Subianto in the July 2014 presidential election, could survive until 2019, simply because he does not control any political party and relies on support from people at the grassroots level

Kornelius Purba (The Jakarta Post)
Sun, May 8, 2016

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View Point: Jokowi’s hidden side as ‘little Soeharto’

Few would believe that Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, after defeating Prabowo Subianto in the July 2014 presidential election, could survive until 2019, simply because he does not control any political party and relies on support from people at the grassroots level. Many expected him to act as a puppet for the ruling coalition and to be an easy target for bullying from Prabowo’s camp.

What is happening now? The opposition force is not only toothless but often appears as the unlikely die-hard supporter of the Jokowi administration, while the ruling coalition can do little to control the government and quite frequently acts as Jokowi’s enemy.

All political parties that hold seats at the House of Representatives tend to act as “loyal” partners of the government because they realize that being distant from the executive means their access to funds, power and influence is also more remote. In practice there is no more opposition to the government, because even Prabowo’s Gerindra Party has opted to remain quiet while hoping the Jokowi government will commit a fatal mistake.

The Golkar Party, once the commander of the opposition force, looks set to suffer financially for staying outside the government, which is unprecedented.

The conflict-torn party now requires any member who intends to vie for the party’s chairmanship post during its national congress in Bali later this month to pay a Rp 1 billion (US$76,000) registration fee.

Party leaders insist the mandatory fee is a display of its commitment to a transparent and bribery-free congress. Given the track record of the party, which was established by Soeharto and served as his political machinery, along with the military, to cling onto power for 32 years until May 1998, the statement is just nonsense.

Golkar, in fact, has lost access to government funding sources and privileges because it does not hold any government posts. As a consequence Golkar politicians have to dig deeper into their pockets if they aspire to lead the party for the next five years.

Golkar has even had to adjust its congress schedule to that of President Jokowi, something the party elite might not have imagined two years ago. Golkar wants President Jokowi to attend the opening of its congress.

The “Jokowi effect” is also felt in the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), evident in the recent dismissal of Fahri Hamzah, a constant government critic, as a party member for a disciplinary violation.

On May 3, Fahri, also the House deputy speaker, could not hide his frustration when no PKS leaders turned up for a hearing at the South Jakarta District Court, where he is challenging his dismissal.

Fahri portrays himself as a true government opposition. But he ignores the bitter fact that the Muslim-based party has lost the privileges it enjoyed for 10 years for becoming part of the previous government.

When Prabowo lost the presidential election he formed the Red-and-White Coalition, along with Golkar, PKS, National Mandate Party (PAN) and United Development Party (PPP) leaders. Taking total control of the House, the opposition could paralyze Jokowi’s government in the short term and force him to relinquish power before 2019. Many political analysts have concluded that Jokowi would become a lame duck and an incompetent president.

At the same time, the ruling coalition, led by the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), also boasted about making Jokowi fully abide by its wishes. PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri once referred to Jokowi as a “party officer”, to show the world she was the boss of the former Surakarta mayor. Jokowi had no choice but to please the country’s fifth president as best as he could.

How has Jokowi survived, and even turned the table on both his detractors and masters, without his own political party?

His predecessor Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who ruled Indonesia for 10 years, is the boss of the Democratic Party, the winner of the 2014 legislative elections. But from time to time he has been bullied by members of his grand coalition, although he gave many the lucrative Cabinet posts they wanted. Megawati, meanwhile, governed in a relatively effective way without conflict within her rainbow coalition thanks in part to her firm grip on the PDI-P.

Several months after Jokowi formed his Cabinet, top PDI-P politicians began to warn the President of his obligations to the party. They even threatened to end the party’s support for the government unless Jokowi dismissed Rini Soemarno as the state-owned enterprises minister.

The party remains steadfast with this particular demand until today, but Jokowi still retains Rini!

Once the PDI-P also urged Jokowi to expel his confidant Luhut Pandjaitan from the Cabinet. Since Jokowi shifted Luhut from the post of Presidential chief of staff to coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister in July last year, such demands have never been heard again.

To a certain extent, it seems that Jokowi has learned from Soeharto’s leadership. Those who do not like Jokowi will argue. But just look at the way Jokowi tamed his political enemies, one by one, slowly but surely. Jokowi has stamina and extreme patience in achieving his political goals, which include bringing all key political elite and groups under his control.

Jokowi, at least for me, is a “little Soeharto”. Like Soeharto, the President has inherited a typically Javanese personality, tending to avoid confrontation and preferring to keep a low profile. But when he thinks the time is right, like Soeharto, Jokowi has the ruthlessness to exercise his power.

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The writer is senior managing editor of The Jakarta Post.

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