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As Jokowi marks his birthday, challenges remain

Happy birthday: President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo receives birthday wishes from residents while attending a charity event for staple food distribution in Bogor, West Java, on Wednesday

Nurul Fitri Ramadhani and Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Thu, June 22, 2017

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As Jokowi marks his birthday, challenges remain

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span class="inline inline-center">Happy birthday: President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo receives birthday wishes from residents while attending a charity event for staple food distribution in Bogor, West Java, on Wednesday. The event coincided with his 56th birthday.(Courtesy of Palace Press Bureau/Rusman)

From early on Wednesday morning, social media was filled with congratulatory messages, extended by various people ranging from politicians and public figures to ordinary citizens, for President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who turned 56 years old.

But, amid the abundance of good wishes for the country’s leader, Jokowi’s approval rating, as the third year of his administration approached, remained flat, as shown by at least two surveys.

Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC) found his public approval rating to be 67 percent this month, pretty much the same as last year.

In July 2016, some 30 percent of 1,027 respondents said they were dissatisfied, while this month the proportion of people dissatisfied with his performance stood at 31 percent.

Another survey, which was released by Kompas daily’s research and development unit, showed the level of public satisfaction in Jokowi’s administration had dropped slightly to 61.3 percent in April from 67.4 percent in the same month last year. Last year, the dissatisfaction with his performance stood at around 32.6 percent; but this year it grew to 36.9 percent.

The reasons behind the rising dissatisfaction may lie in a lack of employment opportunities and the ineffectiveness of the government in reducing poverty, said SMRC research director Jayadi Hanan on Wednesday.

Jokowi has been trying to create a better business climate in the country by slashing red tape and he has also pledged to close the inequality gap. However, solving problems in the real economy, such as the price of staple foods and transportation costs, could help boost confidence in his leadership, said Jayadi.

“Jokowi really needs to achieve all of his economic targets. That is what will help him maintain his approval ratings,” Jayadi added.

Gun Gun Heryanto from the Political Literacy Institute said Jokowi must ensure the Cabinet is on track with all of his targets, while at the same time fulfilling the promises he made during his presidential campaign, if he wishes to raise his game for the 2019 elections.

“The third and fourth years of his administration will be the make-or-break phase for [the public’s] assessment of Jokowi’s performance,” Gun Gun said, adding that the President should also avoid political blunders, particularly in his relations with political parties.

Another looming challenge is related to ethnic and religious matters that have recently arisen in the country.

In the past months, Jokowi and his administration have scrambled to contain growing sectarian tensions that escalated as a result of former Jakarta governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama’s trial and conviction for blasphemy.

Gun Gun warned that innuendo that suggested Jokowi was anti-Islam, pro-Chinese or pro-Communist was likely to continue to affect his approval rating despite his otherwise reasonable performance.

“These accusations will continue to hit the President until the 2019 elections and therefore he should prepare a good counter narrative,” Gun Gun said.

Jokowi has now been intensifying his tours around Java to visit madrasa and pesantren (Islamic schools and boarding schools), which, according to the SMRC, could be an effective means of boosting popular approval.

Jokowi, meanwhile, appeared to regard his birthday as an ordinary working day as he inspected an ongoing toll-road construction project in Bogor, West Java, and visited several subdisricts in Bogor and its neighboring Sukabumi regency, to distribute staple food to local people.

“Happy birthday, Pak!” several people called to Jokowi as he distributed the food packages, as reported by Kompas.com.

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