Jokowi should ‘stand up’ to pressure

JAKARTA. President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo should be able to break free from the pressures imposed on him by political parties, since he enjoys considerable support from the public as well as from other forces in the administration.

Jokowi, who was inaugurated as the country’s seventh president on Monday, has stated that he will allocate 18 out of 33 ministerial posts to professionals and the remaining 15 to political appointees.

Following a delay on Wednesday evening to announce his Cabinet, speculation is rife that political parties in his circle are still resisting the ministers chosen by the President.

University of Indonesia (UI) political analyst Cecep Hidayat said he believed that Jokowi could still rely on public support to fight back.

“Jokowi has successfully gathered support from volunteers and people during his successful presidential campaign and this has become his strongest political asset. He, of course, must use this to increase his leverage against political party leaders, including Megawati Soekarnoputri,” Cecep said, referring to the former president and chief patron of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

Jokowi and his running mate, Jusuf Kalla, won the July 9 presidential election after they managed to secure 53.2 percent of the vote, a victory that was mainly attributed to the role played by the massive numbers of volunteers and political enthusiasts involved in their campaign.

Jokowi’s personal appeal, which relies on his modest lifestyle, has apparently remained publicly widespread and strong since he was elected president after defeating Gerindra Party chief patron Prabowo Subianto.

The executive director of Jakarta-based Akar Rumput Strategic Consulting (ARSC), Dimas Oky Nugroho, suggested Jokowi should seek advice from figures outside the political parties, including academics and leaders of civil society groups, to show the public that he would still listen to alternative voices during the formation of his Cabinet.

“Political party leaders must also stop being too demanding and lousy to Jokowi, otherwise they will disrupt Jokowi’s prerogative to pick his Cabinet members,” he said.

The President and the former members of his transition team have sought support from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) to track the backgrounds of the ministerial candidates and have reportedly dropped several candidates based on the institutions’ assessments.

On Wednesday afternoon, prior to the delay, Jokowi revealed that he had dropped eight candidates, who according to the KPK were liable to be named graft suspects in the future, from the shortlist. However, he refused to name them.

“We deeply appreciated the decision, which reflects Jokowi’s commitment to eradicating corruption and building a clean government,” said Donal Fariz of Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW).

KPK chairman Abraham Samad once again reminded Jokowi not to choose candidates who were likely to be implicated in graft cases.

“[If Jokowi keeps choosing graft-prone candidates] we can conclude that the government is not clean […] This means that the government is not responsive,” he said.

PDI-P deputy secretary-general Ahmad Basarah refused to comment on Jokowi’s decision to delay his Cabinet announcement, saying that the party would first arrange a meeting to “clear the problem”.

Gerindra deputy chairman and House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Fadli Zon, meanwhile, said he had no problem with the delay.

“There is plenty of time for the President to carefully pick [his ministers] so that no candidate is flagged [in any corruption cases] by the KPK.” (Hasyim Widhiarto and Yuliasri Perdani)