Public Satisfaction with the Government Declines

Public satisfaction has declined with the Joko Widodo-Ma'ruf Amin government. The government must optimally overcome a number of problems.

BPMI SEKRETARIAT PRESIDEN

President Joko Widodo and Vice President Ma'ruf Amin after the awarding ceremony for the title of national hero at the State Palace, Jakarta, Wednesday (10/11/2021).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The latest survey conducted by Kompas Research and Development (R&D) in June 2022 showed that public satisfaction with the government of Joko “Jokowi” Widodo-Ma'ruf Amin had dropped 6.8 percentage points compared to the results of the January 2022 survey. The latest survey showed that the Indonesian Onward Cabinet needed to optimize its performance, especially in overcoming the rising prices of basic commodities, providing employment, and eradicating corruption.

Public satisfaction with the performance of the Jokowi-Amin government dropped to 67.1 percent in June 2022 from 73.9 percent in January 2022. The decline in satisfaction occurred in a number of fields, including politics and security (Polkam), law enforcement, the economy, and social welfare. Public confidence recorded the largest drop in the economy and law enforcement by respectively 14.3 percent and 8.4 percent. Meanwhile, public confidence in the two aspects of politics and security as well as social welfare recorded respective declines of 4.5 percent and 4.9 percent.

Specifically as regards the economy, the highest level of dissatisfaction was with the government’s ability in coping with the price of goods and services (64.5 percent). The second highest level of dissatisfaction concerned the government’s ability to provide employment or to reduce unemployment (54.2 percent). As for law enforcement, the highest level of dissatisfaction was recorded in eradicating bribery and the commercialization of legal cases (44.7 percent) as well as in eradicating corruption, collusion and nepotism (43.2 percent).

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The decline in public satisfaction is in line with the decline in public confidence in the performance of the Jokowi-Amin government. In the June survey, public confidence in the government fell to 70.5 percent from 63.5 percent in January.

Responding to the survey results, Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko said on Saturday (6/18/2022) that the public should understand that it was not only Indonesia but also many other countries that were having difficulties coping with the impacts of global problems. At present, the government was still focusing its efforts in coping with global geopolitical uncertainties, such as by minimizing the impacts of surging food and energy prices, he said.

The current situation that is reflected in the survey results must be considered a step forward and the government’s success in coping with the situation.

Presidential Staff Deputy IV Jury Ardiantoro said that given the current global uncertainties, the decline in public confidence should not be considered a failure of the government, especially when compared to many other countries that were sufferign a recession.

"The current situation that is reflected in the survey results must be considered a step forward and the government’s success in coping with the situation. While many countries are experiencing various difficulties, Indonesia is still surviving," Jury said on Sunday (6/19).

Nevertheless, the government was not closing its eyes to the number of difficulties people were facing. The government had issued a number of policies to improve efficiency, such as encouraging the use of locally made goods and reducing subsidy disbursements to ineligible recipients.

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

President Joko Widodo talks with 5th President Megawati Soekarno Putri after the inauguration of two ministers and three deputy ministers at the State Palace, Jakarta, Wednesday (15/6/2022).

Replacing minister

Deputy secretary-general Arif Wibowo of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said that President Jokowi's move to replace a number of ministers and deputy ministers last Wednesday was part of the government’s efforts to address public problems and improve its performance. For example, the appointment of Zulkifli Hasan as Trade Minister aimed to overcome surging commodities prices.

"The increase in prices for any reason will make the public feel dissatisfied and disadvantaged," Arif said.

After the Cabinet reshuffle, it was important that the Indonesia Onward Cabinet consolidated and further improved coordination. Likewise, each minister and deputy minister should also do the same in their respective posts. For this purpose, Arif said, the President’s firmness was needed.

"The President must be more assertive with the ministers from both political parties and professionals who want to participate politically [in the 2024 election], so they will not ignore their ministerial responsibilities," he said.

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In addition to appointing new ministers and deputy ministers, said executive chairman Tubagus Ace Hasan Syadzily of the Golkar Party, the government had taken various steps to overcome economic problems. He also believed that the government would be able to respond to the problems the people were facing.

According to him, a number of indicators have begun to improve. For example, the price of cooking oil was now under control, trade activities were showing improvement as were government spending, which was gradually returning to normal.

"And now, we have to maintain fundamental factors so that the consumer buying power can be maintained and establish a more conducive economic climate," said Tubagus, who is also deputy chairman of House of Representatives (DPR) Commission VIII overseeing religious and social affairs.

Meanwhile, Democratic Party spokesman Herzaky Mahendra Putra saw that the government had made no breakthrough so far in overcoming the country’s economic problems. According to reports from various regions, the people were still facing difficulties dealing with the increased price of basic commodities, he said. Changing a few ministers and deputy ministers would not solve the problem, he added.

"Change should benefit the government, not just the elite," said Herzaky.

The decline in public satisfaction with law enforcement was caused by the government’s lack of firmness. The Attorney General's Office’s handling of the legal case concerning cooking oil, for example, was protracted. "There must be a comprehensive correction by the President in addressing this decline [in public confidence]," he said.

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

President Joko Widodo inaugurated ministers and deputy ministers at the State Palace, Jakarta, Wednesday (15/6/2022).

The Democrats also called on the government to immediately improve its performance. If it did not, they feared it would trigger a wave of public dissatisfaction that could lead to political instability. "Each minister must work seriously and optimally. The people can see who is working seriously and who is using their positions only for political benefits. The public will be taking this into account when [voting] in the 2024 election,” said Herzaky.

University of Paramadina rector Didik J. Rachbini, who is also chairman of the Institute for Economic and Social Research, Education and Information (LP3ES), said that there were a number of mistaken government policies in overcoming the economic problems.

A number of subsidized programs, for example, were not reaching the targeted recipients. The subsidies that should be given to the lower class were instead being distributed to all groups, including the upper class. As a result, the deficit in the state budget could not be avoided and the government had to raise more debt in order to cover the deficit, he said.

Sensitivity to crisis

In addition, the country’s economic policies also did not show sensitivity to crisis. For example, the government was carrying out many large projects, such as the relocation of the capital city, at a time when the country had to save a lot of money. "At the moment, the government isn’t saving money but instead spending lavishly, which has causes the state budget to suffer a deficit," Didik said.

Another problem was the Cabinet’s lack of professionalism amid the economic difficulties. The formation of the Cabinet was seen as being influenced more by political compromise. It was even more risky now, because the nation was entering the political year. The focus of several ministers who came from political parties or intended to run in 2024 could become split between their duties and their political interests. Hopefully, such doubts would not become reality and the ministers would continue to work optimally.

"They must be able to show strong leadership so they can encourage [professionals] in the ministries to work optimally," he said.

Regarding the decline in public satisfaction with law enforcement, the Indonesian Corruption Watch’s legal and monitoring coordinator, Lalola Easter Kaban, pointed out that the government needed to increase its efforts in preventing corruption. The government also needed to strengthen a number of regulations on eradicating corruption, for example by supporting deliberation of the bill on asset forfeiture bill and the bill on limiting cartel-like transactions, as well as revising the criminal code on corruption. Lalola added that the decline in public satisfaction with law enforcement was also caused by the fact that many court verdicts favored corruptors. (INA/CAS/SYA/REK/NIA).

This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi