Entering the middle half of its second term, the President Joko Widodo-Ma’ruf Amin administration deserves much appreciation, because, at this crucial stage, most citizens say they are satisfied with its performances.
By
Bestian Nainggolan
·5 minutes read
ANTARA FOTO/ DODO KARUNDENG
Cadres and sympathizers of the presidential-vice presidential candidate Jokowi-Ma'ruf Amin participate in an open campaign at the Cambodian Field, Pancoran Mas, Depok, West Java, Saturday (30/3/19)..
JAKARTA, KOMPAS —A recent survey conducted by Kompas Research and Development showed almost three-quarters of the public (73.9 percent) said they were satisfied with the performance of the Joko “Jokowi” Widodo-Ma’ruf Amin administration. In contrast, only 26.9 percent of respondents said they were not.
Interestingly, high public satisfaction was recorded in almost all fields of government performance. The highest satisfaction was recorded in the performance of the government in the field of social welfare, which includes health, education and poverty alleviation. In this field, 76.4 percent of the respondents said they were satisfied.
The second highest satisfaction rate was recorded in political performance and security. The survey showed that 74.6 percent of respondents were satisfied with the government’s efforts to maintain political stability and security. In law enforcement, the public satisfaction rate reached 69 percent. Meanwhile, in the economic performance, 60.4 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with the government’s efforts in managing the economy in the midst of the pressure of the pandemic.
The results of the survey are interesting because the level of public satisfaction recorded is the highest for the administration so far. In previous surveys, public satisfaction toward the Jokow-Ma’ruf Amin administration never reached 73.9 percent.
The previous highest satisfaction level was recorded at the end of the first term of Jokowi-Amin's leadership in April 2018. At that time, 72.2 percent of the public was satisfied with the government's performance. Not surprisingly, the public’s high satisfaction in the latest survey is a new marker of the pair’s leadership achievements.
This new marker of achievement is legitimate, as the high satisfaction came from all segments of society. For example, the survey recorded the satisfaction of the government's performance expressed by people of different political backgrounds.
The satisfaction expressed by supporters of Jokowi-Ma'ruf Amin’s administration, of course, showed an increase. In the survey, no less than 87 percent said they were satisfied with the government's performance, which increased from 85.4 percent in the previous survey.
ANTARA FOTO/PUSPA PERWITASARI
Joko Widodo during the 2019 election campaign at Jakabaring Sport City, Palembang, South Sumatra, Saturday (9/3/2019)..
Meanwhile, the satisfaction expressed by the respondents who were not supporters of the Jokowi-Amin’s administration was also quite high, as more than half (54.3 percent) said they were satisfied. This contrasted with the results in previous surveys, during which most expressed their dissatisfaction.
The high satisfaction of the public in this survey is quite an achievement when compared with the governments of previous Indonesian presidents. The achievement of Jokowi-Ma’ruf Amin’s administration is quite different. Based on the results of previous public opinion surveys normally, when entering the middle half of a leadership period, public satisfaction falls to its lowest point. At the same time, the dissatisfaction toward a government’s performance generally increases. This happened during the administrations of presidents Megawati Soekarnoputri and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, both during their first and second terms.
Why? This cannot be separated from the fact that most public expectations at this point have not been realized. During the second to third year of a president’s five-year term not much improvement had been felt by the public, particularly when expectations had been high. Not surprisingly, the gap between expectations and reality is quite wide. However, over time, especially toward the end of an administration, satisfaction generally grows, with the gap between expectations and reality narrowing.
The public satisfaction toward the Jokowi-Ma’ruf Amin administration appears to be different, one reason is because of the difference in situation. The Covid-19 pandemic has been the determining factor. Since the pandemic first occurred, the position of the state in people's lives has become more important. In the midst of a health and economic crisis during which many people have been affected, the government, both politically and economically, has become the center of power that is increasingly dominant in regulating the lives of citizens.
So far, the pandemic has been relatively manageable. Although there have been a number of policy contradictions that have been questioned, the ranks of the Cabinet have been relatively solid. The consolidation of power in the leadership of Jokowi-Amin has been able to solve the health, economic and political problems in a stable condition. In such conditions, there is an increase in public satisfaction and appreciation.
The question is, can this be maintained in the remaining half of Jokowi’s leadership time? This will be quite challenging for Jokowi-Amin.
On the one hand, the pandemic remains a crucial problem. The dilemma between giving priority to the handling of Covid-19 with its various variants, or to focus on efforts to restore the economy will always be a problem. The choice of policy at the expense of others may not necessarily be resolved at the same time. Various indicators of the improving economic performance that have been achieved recently, for example, are being more seriously challenged with the recent massive spread of the Omicron variant.
This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.
