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VP Ma’ruf Amin, how are you today amid the pandemic?
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March last year, Ma’ruf caused controversy by proposing that the government issue “Corona-free certificates” for foreigners traveling to Indonesia.
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20201119_Vice President Ma’ruf Amin (front, center) walks ahead of Health Minister Terawan Agus Putranto (back, left) and Bekasi Regent Eka Supriatmaja (back, right) during a visit to North Cikarang community health center (puskesmas) in Bekasi regency, West Java on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020. The visit was to supervise a simulation of a future mass vaccination program for COVID-19. (Antara/epost-robot)
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hat is the real contribution of Vice President Ma’ruf Amin to the country as it deals with the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic? What are his achievements as the country’s second-most powerful state official — constitutionally – in implementing the special assignments President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has entrusted to him?
I am afraid even Ma’ruf’s staunchest supporters and his inner circle would find it difficult to give a convincing answer to this. How, for example, has he exercised his influence on the conservative and hardline Muslim groups and those who oppose the government’s COVID-19 policies regarding vaccinations and mask wearing? Given his credentials as a prominent Muslim cleric who once headed the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), such a role should not be too complicated for him.
There have been jokes about the vice-presidential post, which may be helpful in examining the issue from a more realistic perspective.
First, is the testimony of then-president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid several days after his dramatic win over his long-time friend Megawati Soekarnoputri in the 1999 election in the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR). Gus Dur made fun of himself and Megawati, who eventually became his vice president.
“We have the ideal president and vice president right now. A president who cannot see, and a vice president who cannot talk,” said the blind president about vice president Megawati who rarely spoke in public. Two years later Megawati replaced Gus Dur after the MPR impeached him.
A vice president is often described as a person who is so close to power but has no power at all. In a more derogative term, a vice president is described as a ban serep (spare tire).
But Indonesian history records at least two vice presidents who did their jobs impressively. Just look at Boediono, who served as vice president in the second term of then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY). You cannot dismiss the exceptional track record of Jusuf Kalla either. He served as vice president for two presidents: SBY in his first term (2004-2009) and Jokowi in his first term (2014-2019).
