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Jokowi’s Sumatra defeat: Insider’s voice
The much-anticipated presidential election has finally ended with, according to quick count results, the incumbent Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Ma’ruf Amin leading by approximately 10 percent over the other duo, Prabowo Subianto and Sandiaga Uno. Jokowi’s victory, however, is being plagued by a substantial defeat in many provinces in Sumatra.
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President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (center), accompanied by First Lady Iriana, listens to State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno (second left) and Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi (third left) as he inspects the newly re-inaugurated Sibolga Port in Sibolga, North Sumatra. (Antara/Irsan Mulyadi)
T
he much-anticipated presidential election has finally ended with, according to quick count results, the incumbent Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Ma’ruf Amin leading by approximately 10 percent over the other duo, Prabowo Subianto and Sandiaga Uno. Jokowi’s victory, however, is being plagued by a substantial defeat in many provinces in Sumatra. Jokowi’s underperformance there was attributed to his failure to overcome problems with roads and with the prices of rubber and palm fruit, which have concerned the general population of Sumatra for years.
Jokowi has branded himself as an “infrastructure president” on numerous occasions, including during the presidential debates vis-à-vis his two-time contender, Prabowo. Indeed within his almost five-year tenure massive infrastructure projects have been initiated with some currently under way.
Roads, airports, seaports, bridges and railways are all being built to improve the economy and bring prosperity to more Indonesians. Jokowi’s government has also increased the infrastructure budget by 158 percent from just Rp 163 trillion (US$11.4 billion) in 2014 to Rp 420 trillion in this fiscal year.
However, the trans-Sumatran highway in some regions has been in severely poor condition. The road, which has become the main access to many villages and cities on Sumatra, is now full of potholes, some resembling mud-filled ponds, including in my home province.
When I was returning home to Tebo from Jambi city a few months ago, I could not enjoy the journey using the trans-Sumatran highway at all; our mini bus continually hit massive potholes. Also, the main road going through my village, the Dutch colonial era Old Padang Road, was almost impassable owing to the same problem.
Residents have voiced concerns about the road conditions by planting banana trees on the road or taking quirky pothole photographs. However, all the efforts have been drowned out by the more sensational infrastructure developments, such as the MRT or the trans-Sumatra toll road project.
Worse, those residing on Sumatra have been severely impacted by a dramatic decade-long downturn of rubber and palm fruit prices. When the President paid a visit to Jambi last year he half-jokingly encouraged farmers to switch to grow jengkol and petai (bitter beans) to tackle the issue.
