President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo finally issued Presidential Decree No. 11/2020 regarding a COVID-19 public health emergency due to the worsening state of the pandemic. Relating to the decree, he decided to impose a large-scale social restrictions policy through Government Regulation No. 21/2020, underlining the “threat” of 19.5 million people traveling for mudik (homebound journey) this year.

To mitigate the socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic, he signed Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perppu) No. 1/2020 that will provide an economic stimulus and social safety net totaling Rp 405.1 trillion (US$24.6 billion).

Clearly, the government is bracing for the worst-case scenario from the pandemic. In particular, to curb the outbreak, the government needs more strategies to restrict people mobility. Jokowi said the new policies would be implemented through law enforcement.

The 2018 Health Quarantine Law stipulates prison terms and fines for residents disobeying the restrictions. In this regard, Jokowi has ordered the National Police to enforce the restrictions. His earlier pleas for physical distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19 seemed ineffective.

The new policies are clearly a response to the mounting pressures on the government, particularly from those who demanded tough measures to contain the virus transmission. And one possible consequence is deployment of security apparatus to control people’s movements and disperse crowds.

Our security institutions, both military and police, possess great resources, including personnel, logistics system and equipment, to enforce the policy. They also have a high-level of readiness to respond to this kind of danger. To control public spaces, security actors may form static and mobile teams in many places.

However, the deployment of a large number of security actors in public areas is problematic. Both police and military are professional in upholding their “traditional missions” such as combat, area security and law enforcement. But in general, they have inadequate training to handle a pandemic. Thus, without proper skills and protective equipment, which also eludes many of our health workers handling COVID-19 patients, security personnel are vulnerable to coronavirus infection. They may even become “super spreaders.”

To boost the effectiveness of the policies, Jokowi needs to solve several remaining problems. First, the government should issue a subsequent government regulation and health ministerial regulation on health quarantine as the law mandates them. Those regulations serve as guidance, both for local governments and the public at large during the public health emergency. The guidelines must explain in detail, clearly and transparently, the procedures and mechanisms for large-scale social restrictions.

Second, Jokowi should improve the command and control (C2) system in handling the pandemic. Presidential Decree No. 9/2020 on formation of the COVID-19 rapid response task force lacks a clear C2 system, whereas it is essential for all measures to fight the disease.

In this sense, improvement of the C2 system is strongly required. This will set a clear chain of command in the nationwide efforts to end the pandemic. Jokowi should lead the fight himself.

Finally, Jokowi should prepare another economic stimulus package to dampen the COVID-19 impact and the rise in unemployment resulting from a prolonged coronavirus crisis. Unlike regional quarantine, large-scale social restrictions do not oblige the central government and local governments to provide compensation to those affected. In this regard, a social safety net may be a good approach to minimizing social unrest or conflict.

Nevertheless, containing COVID-19 needs multiple approaches to flatten the curve of virus transmission, unless a vaccine to cure the disease is available and globally distributed.

Domestically, the government must communicate well with the public to prevent a panicked reaction and to ensure that coordination between the central and local governments work. Local and community-based initiatives to restrict human mobility must be supported by providing a guarantee of a fiscal regime to revise regional budget allocation.

The COVID-19 health protocols can only be implemented if there is transparently shared information about people infected, just to avoid unnecessary stigmatization and discrimination.

Through public health diplomacy, Indonesia should take the lead in the formation of an accountable and transparent regime of information sharing on both the people infected and health infrastructure in ASEAN. The return of more than 34,600 Indonesians from Malaysia following the lockdown there, for example, requires stricter border control.

On the international stage, Indonesia should actively promote public health diplomacy aimed at upholding equal distribution of health and medical needs for COVID-19 while minimizing economic destruction in the aftermath of the pandemic. Indonesia can liaise with developing and developed countries and negotiate overhaul of the global economic architecture post-COVID-19 pandemic.

Jokowi has to avoid any unnecessary actions, such as securitizing the pandemic by, for example, declaring a state of civil emergency. Jokowi’s statement about such a possibility indicates the early stage of securitization of COVID-19.

Applying a stronger security approach to contain the outbreak may lead to complications. Bear in mind that COVID-19 is a non-military threat, which is why we need more noncoercive measures against the virus and to maintain security institutions as supporting players.

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Anton Aliabbas is a senior fellow for security sector reform at Imparsial human rights watch. Shiskha Prabawaningtyas is director of Paramadina Graduate School of Diplomacy, Universitas Paramadina. The views
expressed are their own.

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