IO, Jakarta – The survey agency Indo Barometer released the results of their survey of how the people view the performance of the ministers in the Indonesia Onward Cabinet. The survey, held as a public evaluation of national issues within the first 100 days of Jokowi-Amin’s administration, shows that Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto is the most popular minister in the public’s eye. “We asked the people to state the name of the ministers of the Jokowi-Amin Cabinet appointed on 23 October 2019 that they know. The top ten popular ministers are Prabowo Subianto (18.4%), Sri Mulyani Indrawati (10.6%), Erick Thohir (8.2%), Mohammad Mahfud M. D. (7.9%), Nadiem Anwar Makarim (5.3%), Luhut B. Panjaitan (5.2%), Tito Karnavian (5%), Moeldoko (3.2%), Edy Prabowo (2.5%), and Pramono Anung (2.2%),” said Indo Barometer researcher M. Qodari as he presented the survey results at Century Park Athlete Hotel, Senayan, Jakarta, on Sunday (16/02/2020).
Other than being the most popular, Prabowo is also perceived as the minister with the best work performance at 26.8%, followed by Sri Mulyani (13.9%), Erick Thohir (12.6%), Mahfud M. D. (7.3%), and Nadiem Makarim (5.2%) in the fifth position. Next are Basuki Hadi Muljono (1.8%), Syahrul Yasin Limpo (1.4%), Muhammad Tito Karnavian (1.4%), Muhadjir Effendy (0.9%), and Luhut B. Panjaitan (0.9%). “The top five reason for the public to consider that a minister works well are: “Shows actual results” (19.5%), “is a no-nonsense person” (18%), “experienced” (16%), “appointed to a position that matches their skills/abilities” (8.7%), and “is daring” (8.6%),” Qodari said.
Prabowo is at an advantage due to his no-nonsense attitude as Minister of Defense, according to 69.3% of the surveyed public. Another 45% considers him to be suitable for the position of Minister of Defense because “it is his field of expertise”, and a 46.3% because “he masters defense issues”. On the other hand, Sri Mulyani is perceived by the 31.8% public to “have shown results” and to “have experience in her field”. 31.7% states that they find Sri Mulyani to be “intelligent” and “an intellectual”.
Qodari believes that the people’s good comments will add to Prabowo’s political strength. “In view of this data, I can say that Mr. Prabowo’s decision to enter the Cabinet is a correct one. He can at least remain on the political stage until 2024,” he said. (table 1)
The survey also shows that public satisfaction of the Jokowi-Ma’ruf Amin cabinet is 54.4%, with satisfaction of President Joko Widodo’s performance at 70.1%. This is much higher than the satisfaction level for presidential performance in March 2015 at 57.5%.
The National Survey was performed on 09-15 January 2020. The method used was multistage random sampling with 1,200 respondents. The margin of error was ± %2.83 at a reliability level of 95%. Data was collected by direct interview of respondents using a questionnaire. Survey respondents were Indonesian citizens with voting rights according to applicable regulations, i.e. at least 17 years of age or married when the survey was performed.
Appreciation
Ministry of Defense Spokesman Dahnil Anzar Simanjuntak stated that Prabowo expressed his thanks to the people for their evaluation of his performance as the Minister of Defense. “This evaluation encourages him to work better and focus even more. Mr. Prabowo is happy with this evaluation, as he has been focusing only on his duties as the Minister of Defense and not on anything else,” he said. “Mr. Prabowo still has a lot to do as Minister of Defense. He is using the survey results as a supplement that helps him to work properly in that position. It also expresses the high expectations of the people, which is a hard task to perform,” he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker of the House (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat – “DPR”) Aziz Syamsuddin expressed his appreciation of Minister Prabowo’s achievement of best performance. This is a good thing, especially since Prabowo was outside of the confines of President Jokowi’s government before. “Isn’t that a good thing? He started out as the opposition, then as part of the coalition, and finally becomes the best in the position. That’s wonderful and I greatly appreciate it,” he said at the Parliamentary Complex in Jakarta on Monday (17/02/2020). He further hopes that the ministers can provide the best for the state and nation – “Just give our best to our country.” (Dan)
