Repair Govt Communication

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO

Deputy chairman of the Pancasila Ideology Development Agency (BPIP) Hariyono, Communications and Information Ministry Information and Public Communications Director General Rosarita Niken Widiastuti and deputy secretary general of the Nahdlatul Ulama Board of Executives (PBNU) Sultonul Huda invite discussion participants to practice Pancasila greetings in the Merdeka Barat 9 Forum at the Communications and Information Ministry in Jakarta, on Wednesday (30/5/2018). The event, entitled Taking care of Diversity to Counter Terrorism and Radicalism, was part of the commemoration of the anniversary of Pancasila, which falls on June 1.

The criticism various parties have laid against President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo-Vice President Jusuf Kalla is actually a response to a decision from the government.

In the end, the controversy over the "salaries" of Rp 112 million for the chairman of the Agency for the Implementation of State Ideology Pancasila’s (BPIP) Board of Directors and Rp 100 million for the members of the BPIP steering committee garnered sharp criticism. The criticism became wild and attacked the integrity of the nation\'s leaders to cause an uproar.

Presidential Regulation No. 42/2018 that President Jokowi signed on May 23, 2018 had an appendix titled "Financial Rights and Other Facilities of BPIP Officials". The term "salary" was quickly adopted as being more reliable and easier to understand than "financial rights".

The opposition and observers criticized the presidential regulation from many angles. "It has its own mechanism. The Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform Ministry worked out the job analysis, then the Finance Ministry, the salary calculation. Again, that\'s not our calculation, you know," President Jokowi commented on the controversy. (Kompas, May 30).

The BPIP steering committee is feeling the heat from the criticism. A steering committee member of, Mahfud MD, responded to the incessant criticism through his Twitter account, that he had never asked for a salary and had not received any salary so far. “Salary” was not entirely appropriate because what was meant was the operational cost and other expenses. Mahfud even invited the public to contest the presidential regulation through the Supreme Court.

On several occasions, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani explained that the “financial rights” consisted of various components, such as salaries, insurance fees and job allowances. The basic salary was equivalent to those of other state officials at Rp 5 million, and a job allowance of Rp 13 million. There was also an insurance fee of Rp 5 million and money for operational activities.

This distortion of information is not the first time it has happened. Information frequently becomes distorted because the government does not seem to realize the importance of public communication. As in the presidential regulation, the text is not always accompanied by contextual background. As a result, observers or the opposition end up providing a context. It is left to them to give meaning to the decision. Risk management for the government’s image does not seem to be a concern before a public policy is taken and communicated to the public.

In these political years, we want to re-emphasize the importance of managing government communication. Without good political communication, the government could be bombarded by criticism and reproach. Ultimately, it could disrupt the public’s perception on how the Jokowi-Kalla government manages the state.

Giving "financial rights and other facilities to BPIP officials" in large enough quantities without providing any explanations whatsoever, could have disturbed the people\'s sensitivities. The possibility that the policy would be criticized should have been considered and a way to anticipate the criticism should have been determined in advance.