Terawan has made fewer public appearances in the past several months, seemingly after critics lambasted him for stirring up one controversy after another, including by playing down the COVID-19 threat at the beginning of the outbreak in the country, despite his position leading the national efforts against the novel coronavirus.

Emanuel Melkiades Laka Lena, the chairman of House Commission IX overseeing health care, acknowledged that the minister had displayed rather poor communication skills, though added that Terawan had done a good enough job handling virus mitigation efforts as proven during previous hearings with the legislative body.

Terawan has not been keeping the public properly informed about his efforts, raising questions over his capabilities, Emanuel said.

"One important issue we have found from the minister and his staff is the lack of public communication skills. [Terawan] has done much, but he doesn’t let the people know,” the Golkar Party politician said on Tuesday.

Muchamad Nabil Haroen of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) voiced similar concerns, saying that the current health crisis had tested Terawan's leadership and vision as the leading minister in the health sector.

"The minister must improve his public communication strategy. Many ideas and programs are not well communicated to the public, leaving the latter unaware [of the government's efforts to combat COVID-19]," he said.

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