A

ctivists and farmers called on President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to immediately fulfill his land-reform promises as the country marked National Farmers Day on Sunday.

Agrarian reform has been listed as one of Jokowi’s nine priority programs, known as the Nawacita, with a focus on land-conflict settlement as well as land redistribution and certification for farmers. Jokowi plans to redistribute 9 million hectares of land to citizens under the land objects for agrarian reform (TORA) system and 12.7 million hectares to be managed by indigenous people. The policy has been touted as a key to improving the people’s welfare and reducing economic disparities.

But critics claim that Jokowi has not been serious enough in carrying out his signature program.

In celebration of National Farmers Day, which falls every Sept. 24, 65 NGOs grouped under the National Agrarian Reform Committee (KNPA) criticized Jokowi for failing to issue a presidential regulation (Perpres) that could be used as a legal basis for the land redistribution.

“The Perpres is needed to strengthen the 1960 Agrarian Reform Law,” Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA) secretary general Dewi Kartika said. “We are still waiting for real action from the President on land reform and into his third year, everything is still business as usual.”

Dewi said that with no political and legal breakthroughs, Jokowi’s land-reform program would fail to bring out meaningful progress.

She therefore called on the President to create a special body that would be tasked with carrying out his land-reform program.

Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) executive director Nur Hidayati highlighted the fact that as of now the President had yet to issue a clear policy that could address land disputes between businesses and farmers or indigenous people.

Such a policy is very important because most of the land owned by companies in Indonesia is disputed by locals, she said.

Rakhma Mary Herwati of the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) said that with no regulations aimed at resolving land disputes there would be no land reform.

“If the program is carried out sluggishly, without a clear purpose and fails to address the main issue of land disputes, then it’s not land reform at all,” she said.

On Monday, hundreds of farmers staged a rally in front of the State Palace to voice the same demand: swift land reform.

Siti Zuhro, a political researcher from the Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI) said that agrarian issues must be resolved soon by Jokowi’s administration to address economic disparities.

“The people have been waiting for three years since Jokowi was elected,” Siti told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Instead of focusing on gathering support for his reelection bid in 2019, Jokowi should just focus on realizing his Nawacita programs, she added.

“He must focus and not lose his vision. If he can finish these programs during his administration it could be a great political investment for him,” Siti said.

The opposition has slammed Jokowi for sluggish reform in the agrarian sector.

House deputy speaker Fadli Zon, an executive of the Gerindra Party, claimed that 5 million farmers had abandoned farming in the last 10 years because of a lack of agrarian reform.

“Even though the government has tried to revive the Agriculture Ministry, the results of the agrarian-reform agenda has still not been effective,” he said as quoted by kompas.com.

Contacted separately, Noer Fauzi Rahman of the Presidential Chief of Staff (KSP) office told the Post that ministers under the Coordinating Economic Ministry were still deliberating the draft Perpres on land reform.

It is unclear when the President will sign it, he said.

“The Perpres is the government’s job,” he said, “I hope the people’s aspirations can be a source of inspiration for the government in making policy innovations to implement land reform.”