In the video, apparently shot during a Cabinet meeting on June 18, the President lambasted the ministers for taking the situation too lightly.

“The atmosphere in the last three months and in the next three months should be one of crisis,” he said. “We should not consider [this situation] to be normal. That is very dangerous. And I still see that many of us see this as normal.”

He urged all ministries to cut through the red tape and accelerate their spending in order to stimulate the economy.

“Once again, do not act as if everything is normal,” he said. “If you need to issue a ministerial regulation [to accelerate spending], issue it. If you need a presidential regulation, I will issue it.”

Jokowi cited the state budget for the health sector as an example of the slow spending. “We have budgeted Rp 75 trillion [US$5.28 billion] but only 1.5 percent has been disbursed,” he said. “All the money that’s supposed to be for the people is stuck there.”

Read also: ‘Crisis like no other’ will shrink Indonesia’s economy, IMF forecasts

He also called on the Health Ministry to immediately pay out the financial incentives promised to health workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 outbreak.

He closed the uncharacteristically fiery address by saying that he was prepared to take extraordinary political and governmental steps to address the current crisis. 

“I will take any steps necessary, including extraordinary ones, for our 267 million people,” he said. “[I might] disband agencies. [I might] reshuffle [the Cabinet]. I have considered many options."

The June 18 meeting was the first Cabinet meeting held face-to-face since the COVID-19 outbreak in the country began. The meeting was closed to the public and the press.

According to the government’s official count, Indonesia has 54,010 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 2,754 deaths as of Sunday. (kmt)