The recent issuance of Presidential Regulation (Perpres) 82/2020, which gives Erick a new job as the executive director of the government’s COVID-19 Response and Economic Recovery Committee, is an indication of the high degree of trust shown by the President in the former businessman, political analysts have said.

Erick, who was previously best known as the founder of media and entertainment holding firm PT Mahaka Media, has few ties to political parties and is, therefore, seen as more independent than other politically affiliated Cabinet members, head of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) Political Research Center Firman Noor said.

“Erick has relatively few political ties with political parties, which makes his calculations [of decisions] more independent and, therefore, as Jokowi wanted, easier to implement without having to bargain with so many stakeholders,” Firman said.

His role as head the COVID-19 recovery program is the most recent in his long list of government assignments, which begun with his job as chairman of the Indonesia Asian Games Organizing Committee (INASGOC). He was widely credited as the man behind the successful staging of the 2018 Asian Games. Following this role, he was tapped to lead the Jokowi-Ma’ruf Amin campaign team and, following Jokowi’s reelection, was appointed as SOEs minister.

Firman of LIPI said Erick’s impressive track record and growing job portfolio had garnered him the respect of members of the political coalition in Jokowi's government.

He said the appointment of Erick to lead the post-COVID-19 recovery was also an indication that Jokowi had shifted his priority from public health to the economy.

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