Indonesians out to hold Jokowi accountable

 

 

JAKARTA, Indonesia – It was no fad, it seems. The unprecedented level of transparency and public participation in Indonesia’s presidential election appears to be heralding a new era in Indonesian governance – one where empowered citizens are determined to be an active watchdog of the new government.

In the latest example, a new website called Kawal Menteri, or guard the ministers, aims not only to gather public inputs for President-elect Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s cabinet, but beyond that give Indonesians a platform to monitor and assess the performance of his chosen ministers. The was officially launched on Sunday, August 17, to coincide with Indonesia’s Independence Day.

Like volunteer group Jokowi Center’s effort to crowdsource a proposed alternative cabinet for him, Kawal Menteri has a list of candidates for each ministry that people can vote for. It provides a brief description of each one, and it’s working with the non-governmental organization Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) to find out whether the names have been linked to graft cases in the past.

Compared to the Jokowi Center, however, Kawal Menteri’s list is more heavily populated with technocrats. (READ: Technocrats, politicians top online poll for Jokowi cabinet)

“We are non-partisan,” one of the site’s coordinators, Singapore-based Indonesian IT professional Khairul Anshar, told Rappler.

Jokowi promised he would not trade ministerial seats for political support, he said. “This means he should choose those who can really help him.”

And they will not stop after the cabinet is announced. The site plans to continue monitoring the performance of ministries based on Jokowi’s campaign promises.

Inspired, empowered

July’s presidential election has widely been regarded as a rebirth of sorts for political participation in Indonesia, especially among the youth.

Inspired by the idea of change embodied by a man who rose from humble roots to become a symbol of reform in a political landscape dominated by elites, Indonesians went out to volunteer – online and on the field – to campaign for him and monitor the vote recapitulation process. (READ: Guardians of Indonesia’s votes)

Khairul said he’s one such Indonesian, who only became active in political affairs with the emergence of Jokowi as a presidential candidate. “We would go to gatherings in Singapore and talk about Pak Jokowi,” he said.

He continued his volunteer efforts during the quick count of overseas votes and for Kawal Pemilu, the successful web-based volunteer count of the presidential election results. He doesn’t think, however, that the job is finished with Jokowi’s election.

After the results were announced on July 22, he said his friends and fellow volunteers started asking, “What else can we do? What’s next?”

“We’ve given so much time and effort to the election already, so we need to continue. We need to remind Jokowi of his promises,” Khairul said.

He’s not the only one. 

On wwww.change.org, for example, a petition was quickly launched to reject the inclusion of former intelligence chief Abdullah Mahmud Hendropriyono as an advisor in Jokowi’s transition team because of the human rights allegations against him.

“No matter how small, our efforts will be meaningful to prevent the inclusion of people with poor human rights record like AM Hendropriyono in the government and fight for a more transparent and democratic political process,” the petition stated. In a little over a week, it managed to get more than 5,800 signatures.

Beyond watching Jokowi, Indonesians also appear to feel more empowered to monitor the government in general.

Environmental finance consultant Melanie Tedja was also not active in political affairs before this year’s election. But in June she started writing political notes that were widely shared on Facebook, and later started a www.change.org petition to reject revisions to the law on legislatures that have been criticized as undemocratic. That petition has so far garnered more than 72,000 signatures.

Realistic expectations

Expectations are undoubtedly high for Jokowi, leading to what some say is a certainty that he will disappoint. This was evident in Rappler’s discussions with some volunteers a few days after the election results were announced.

“The longing and hope of the people for change is very big!” said Jokowi election volunteer Mustar Bona Ventura. “[Jokowi], don’t waste the hopes and desires of the people. And never stop listening to the people. Meet the people!”

But volunteers and activists alike appear to be aware of the political realities and challenges Jokowi will be up against.

“People are really optimistic with him getting elected, but he’s in the middle of a lot of vested interests from political parties and politicians who are suddenly snuggling up to him. He has to keep the people’s (interest) in his mind and follow his campaign promises,” said Rika Theo, the coordinator for Mata Massa, an initiative that allowed people to report election irregularities.

Khairul even said they don’t expect Jokowi to be able to meet 100% of his promises. “We understand that we come from different groups, different backgrounds. It’s difficult for Jokowi to listen to everyone. We all have different opinions and ideas,” he explained.

What’s important, they said, is that he remains committed to the people.

“The people’s expectations of him are astonishingly high, I almost feel sorry for him,” said Reza Lesmana, founder of Kawal Suara, another volunteer-based parallel count of votes. “However, as long as he can consistently show his commitment to the people, they will always support him and follow his lead.” – with reports from Ulma Haryanto/Rappler.com