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Pandemic blunders fail to dent Jokowi’s popularity
President Jokowi has proven to have relatively stable approval ratings despite a slew of controversial policies taken by his administration since the beginning of the global health crisis, a feat that analysts say could be attributed to the persistent political polarization, the absence of strong and effective opposition and the media failure to challenge the government’s narratives on the pandemic situation in the country.
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This handout photo taken and released on January 13, 2021 by the Presidential Palace shows Indonesian President Joko Widodo (center) receiving the country's first Covid-19 vaccine jab. (The Jakarta Post/Presidential Palace)
W
hen Indonesia surpassed 1 million COVID-19 cases on Jan. 27, painting a bleak picture of how the nation of 270 million people handled the deadly pandemic, nearly 70 percent of Indonesians said they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s performance, according to recent polling data.
President Jokowi has had relatively stable approval ratings despite a slew of controversial policies taken by his administration since the beginning of the global health crisis, a feat that analysts say could be attributed to persistent political polarization, the absence of a strong and effective opposition and the media’s failure to challenge the government’s narrative on the pandemic situation in the country.
His approval ratings did fall from 71.8 percent in September 2019 to 65.2 percent in July 2020, about four months into the pandemic, when the economy was under severe pressure from newly imposed social-distancing policies, but then climbed to 69.8 percent in January this year, according to polling by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI).
About 85 percent of the respondents say they were pleased with the current economic situation, while between 77 and 83 percent shared similar sentiment about the political, security and law enforcement situation in the country. The survey, released on Tuesday, was conducted between Jan. 25 and 30, involving 2,300 respondents from across the country and with a margin of error of 2.9 percent.
Persistent political polarization
