IO, Jakarta – 100 days have glided silently by since President and Vice President of RI, Joko Widodo and Ma’ruf Amin, started work, following their inauguration on 22 October 2019. However, Jokowi has stated from the start that he saw no need to set any target for the first 100 days of work in his second term, “Because this is the second term, which is the continuation of the first term. We are continuing things. There is no such thing as stopping then restarting. Not at all,” Jokowi said in Tangerang on Thursday (30/01/2020).
Jokowi further said that detailed information on future targets and achievements can be obtained from the Ministers of his Cabinet. He believes that he has provided sufficiently clear and concrete performance indicators to them. “The numbers, everything is clear. Everyone should work in high speed because we have very specific targets,” he said.
Continuing the President’s statement, Presidential Spokesman Fadjroel Rachman said that Jokowi-Ma’ruf already achieved some goals in their effort to realize Indonesia Onward. “We call it (the efforts) panca kerja (“five tasks”), the first being the development of human resources, the second being continued infrastructure development, the third being the simplification of bureaucracy, the fourth being the simplification of regulations, and the fifth being economic transformation,” he said in the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, on Wednesday (29/01/2020)
Fadjroel then described achievements during the first 100 days of Joko Widodo and Ma’ruf Amin’s rule. In law and constitution, they have responded to the controversy surrounding the amendment to regulations concerning presidential elections: Jokowi confirms that the direct elections will continue. “In order to resolve this controversy, the President has ordered us, his Spokesman, to express his stance through a written statement that the Presidential Elections will remain a direct Election, ditto the election of Regional Heads. And finally, the President and Vice President will continue to rule for two terms, and no more,” he said.
Any past violations to human rights will be resolved through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which will be headed by the Coordinating Minister of Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD and whose members include Fadjroel himself, among others. In the realm of law, the President issued an “Eid-el-Fitr-gift” in the form of 4 Omnibus Laws. They are the Omnibus Laws concerning the Creation of Job Opportunities, Pharmacy, Taxation, and New Capital of the State. “The latter law states that the new capital city will have an area size of 256,000 hectares,” he said. “The New Capital City Draft Law also rules that 3 people will become members of the New Capital City Development Advisory Council: The Prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan; former British Premier, Tony Blair; and CEO of Soft Bank, Masayoshi Son.
In terms of economic developments, Fadjroel stated that President Joko Widodo has expressed his appreciation for the signing of 1,300 national project work contracts in the environs of the Minister of Public Works and Public Housing for the 2020 Budget Year, as this is in accordance with his (the President’s) earlier order that all activities relating to Government tenders should be completed by early in the year.
As for economic policies, the Government has created its National Medium-Term Development Plans (Rencana Pembangunan Jangka Menengah Nasional – “RPJMN”) which, among others, set targets for the reduction of poverty, the improvement of Gini ratio, etc. by 2024. If these plans succeed, by 2045 Indonesia will be one of the top 4 countries with the biggest economy in the world.
In terms of land reform, the Government has issued land certificates for people from 2014 to 2018 (a total of 13.4 million certificates), as well as in 2019 (a total of 11.2 million certificates). Fadjroel hopes that the Government will be able to complete and issue 80 to 100 million land certificates. “This is part of the economic transformation branch of the panca kerja, as anyone who has land certificate may keep it as a passive asset or put it up as business loan collateral,” he said.
President Joko Widodo also pushes the development of the Exclusive Economic Zone (“EEZ”) in Natuna Island to facilitate the work of our fishermen there. The Island now has ports, fish auctioning facilities, and cold storage facilities. Fadjroel stated that several ministries have reformed their bureaucracy, such as by eliminating Echelon 3 and 4 levels. The first ministry to do so was the Minister of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reforms.
Ministerial
Breakthrough
Some ministers in the Indonesia Onward
Cabinet have made breakthroughs within the first 100 days on the job. Minister
of Education and Culture Nadiem Makarim has taken an extreme step by
eliminating the National Examinations starting from 2021. He then pushes for
the concept of “Kampus Merdeka” or “Free Campus”, which is an extension
of the “Merdeka Belajar” or “Free Learning” concept.
Minister of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reforms Tjahjo Kumolo plans to eliminate the category of contract workers. He claims that this elimination will help us to realize the vision of the Indonesia Onward . The Minister of State-Owned Enterprises, Erick Thohir, eliminated the Echelon I level in his Ministry, as well as dismantled the Board of Directors and Board of Commissioners of SOEs.
Coordinating Minister of Human and Cultural Development Muhadjir Effendy is taking his own measures for preparing advanced HR. He starts by implementing a marriage certification program for couples seeking to marry. The purpose of this pre-marital education and certification is to help couples who are getting married start by establishing healthy relationships.
Also highlighted by the public are the actions taken by Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto. In a joint work meeting with Commission I of the House of Representatives (“DPR”), he stated that our country’s defense and security should be based on the universal people’s defense concept. In other words, all citizens have the right and duty to participate in the program of National Defense. Therefore, we need to build up reserve components from all sectors. For this purpose, the Ministry of Defense will cooperate with the Ministry of Education and Culture. “This effort would naturally require the participation of ministries and agencies outside of Defense. For example, we need to cooperate with the Ministry of Education to create the Educational Reserve Component, train reserve officers, and train the reserve components from High School onwards to college levels. In fact, we are pushing for this kind of training and education to be implemented as early as Middle School level in the future,” Prabowo said.
Furthermore, Prabowo pays great attention to the modernization of our Armed Forces’ weaponry, traveling to a number of countries carrying out Military diplomacy. The Minister’s Spokesman, Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak, explained that this “Military diplomacy” is an important part of the greater concept of Indonesia’s defense posture. “He has stated from the start that he will be focusing on modernizing our weaponry system in the first two to six months of work,” Dahnil stated in the Office of the Ministry of Defense in Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, Jakarta, recently.
Prabowo believes that weaponry purchasing is more than just getting the most modern, sophisticated, and efficient equipment. He compares the features of all weaponries possessed by the countries that he visited, which are generally considered the best weaponry manufacturers in the world.
Expressions of
Appreciation
Deputy Speaker of the DPR Aziz Syamsudin expressed
his appreciation of the Jokowi-Maruf Government’s performance during its first
100 days of work, especially the Omnibus Law. “We appreciate the policies made
by the President in unifying the steps towards an Indonesia by improving HR qualities in all sectors. The Omnibus
Law submitted by the Government will encourage the acceleration of economic
activities toward the Indonesia Onward,” he said on Thursday (30/01/2020). “However,
I hope that the Government continues to improve the quality of its services, consider
the aspirations of the people, and work according to applicable mechanisms and regulations.”
Similar to Azis, Exchange Analyst and Director of PT TRFX Garuda Berjangka, Ibrahim, states that Jokowi-Ma’ruf have generated significantly positive impact to trading in Indonesia’s capital markets within the first 100 days of work. Jokowi’s known ambition of bringing in large-scale changes through his Cabinet boosts the confidence of investors.
Meanwhile, political, social, and society observer John N. Palinggi said that so far, Jokowi-Amin have been successful within the first 100 days of work. The Government has created many strategic programs that it decides jointly with the DPR. Furthermore, other ideas meant to improve the people’s progress and prosperity in all fields generated positive added value. “I salute him. I respect and appreciate the steps taken by President Jokowi during his first 100 days of leadership. I am very proud of him. This is different from 5 years ago, when his performance was 100%. Now, it seems that the power of Mr. President’s concept organization and work execution has gone up to 300%,” he said in his statement on Thursday (30/01/2020).
John further states that Jokowi’s commitment in absorbing workers should also be appreciated. China has performed this idea at the time they first open themselves up – i.e. the idea that no matter how much is spent, China must be able to employ as many of its citizens as possible. Jokowi implemented it by reforming the regulations through the Job Opportunity Creation and Taxation Omnibus Laws. (Dan)