People Wake-Up Call for the Government

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

Wartawan foto mengabadikan pengunjuk rasa yang menolak disahkannya UU Cipta Kerja di Jalan Medan Merdeka Barat, Jakarta Pusat, Selasa (20/10/2020).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The government has made a number of efforts to cope with the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic but it has not yet been able to satisfy the people. Public dissatisfaction is a warning for the government to strengthen its performances and at the same time to listen to the voices of the people. Meeting public expectations is important in order to establish political stability ahead of the “political year”.

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An opinion survey conducted by Kompas Research and Development in October 2021 showed that public satisfaction with the performances of the Joko “Jokowi” Widodo-Ma'ruf Amin government fell from 69.1 percent in April to 66.4 percent. The decline was in line with the fall in the public satisfaction in three of the four areas, namely politics and security, law enforcement and people's welfare. Public satisfaction only increased in the government's economic performances (1.1 percent increase).

The emotional attitude of the Cabinet ministers is more prominent than their performances.

A lecturer of political communication at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN), Gun Gun Heryanto, said on Sunday (17/10/2021) that the decline in public satisfaction was a warning for the government to immediately improve its performances, not only in handling Covid-19, but also in strengthening democracy institutionally. So far, government institutions have tended to display ambiguity in roles and functions. The emotional attitude of the Cabinet ministers is more prominent than their performances.

"The decline in trust shows the residents' anxiety as well as high expectations. At first, the public's expectation for the continuity of what Jokowi had built in the first period was very high, but it continued to decline," he said.

ARSIP PRIBADI

Gun Gun Heryanto,  lecturer of political communication at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University.

According to Gun Gun, the government’s performances must be improved as soon as possible because Jokowi’s administration has entered the second half of its five-year term. An improvement should not only be made on policies related to the Covid-19 pandemic but also in policy communication.

Public participation

According to the head of the Political Research Center of the National Research and Innovation Agency, Firman Noor, the government needs to fix a number of problems in order to increase public satisfaction. One of them is democratization, especially concerning freedom of opinion and public participation. “The government is in a very strong position. With that, it should be able to be more open and have a dialogue with those who are considered critical, and then make a common resolution," he said.

Kompas/Heru Sri Kumoro

Airplane passengers arrive at the arrival terminal of Ngurah Rai International Airport, Badung, Bali, Monday (11/10/2021). Starting October 14, 2021, Ngurah Rai Airport will reopen to accept international flights.

While regarding the increase in public satisfaction with economic performance, even though the pandemic is not over yet, it is considered normal. The President's expert staff member for economic affairs, Arif Budimanta, said the government was still focused on efforts to restore the economy. The strategy is to combine economic and health policies that have proven effective in restoring the economy. (CAS/NIA/REK)

(This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi)