Impact of Populism on Governance

Jokowi’s populism did not end after he was elected as governor in September 2012; it had only just begun. Referring again to Panizza (2005, p. 11), populism not only concerns a crisis of representation but also a beginning of representation, allowing those who have never before been represented—for reasons such as their class, religion, ethnicity or geographical location—to be acknowledged as legitimate political actors.

The mass media became a new representative institution, connecting Jokowi directly with Jakarta’s citizens, and the larger Indonesian population. During his first 100 days in office, he received special attention from the mass media, and Jokowi’s daily activities were always top news items. His main daily activities as governor were

consistent with his campaign style, “blusukan,” or making impromptu, direct visits to kampungs. Even now, daily reports often cover Jokowi’s activities of the day.

Jokowi also tried to gain support from the Jakarta bureaucracy, as a lack of bureaucratic support would make it difficult to fulfill his campaign promises. In October 2012, Jokowi famously forgave a number of subdistrict (lurah) and district heads (camat) who were absent from their office when Jokowi conducted a surprise inspection. In a session widely covered by the media, Jokowi showed leniency at a meeting attended by the anxious district and subdistrict heads in Jakarta. He gave a spontaneous speech:

Saya minta tersenyum semuanya. Jangan tegang. Saya lihat tegang

semuanya. Saya tidak akan marah hari ini. Camat dan Lurah adalah

partner saya. Rekan kerja saya yang berada di front paling depan yang

berhubungan dengan masyarakat. Sehingga saya minta semuanya nanti

mempunyai visi, budaya kerja, dan budaya pelayanan yang sama. Saya

tidak ingin bicara banyak. Yang kemarin (sidak-red) saya nggak ada urus.

Sudahlah. Tapi ke depan, saya pengin semuanya punya visi yang sama. Jadi

jangan takut yang kemarin saya kunjungi jadi nggak nyenyak tidur. Tidurlah

yang nyenyak… (Yustiningsih, 2012)

(I ask you to smile. Don’t be tense. I see everybody is tense. I won’t get angry today. District and subdistrict heads are my partners. [You are] my co-workers at the forefront in dealing directly with society. So I ask all of you to share the same vision, work culture, and service culture. I do not want to talk for long. I don’t care about yesterday (Sidak-ed). Never mind. But in the future, I want us to share the same vision. So [for the subdistrict heads]

whom I visited yesterday, don’t be afraid. Sleep well…)

However, in April 2013, he began the restructuring of Jakarta’s bureaucracy, starting with district (camat) and subdistrict heads (lurah) using a merit-based test,

“Position’s Procurement” (Lelang Jabatan). The main goal of this “procurement” was not only to put the right person in the right job, it was also seen as an effort by Jokowi to consolidate his power in government.⁵³

Jokowi and Ahok used the media as tools to communicate with people and to build support. Jokowi held a public meeting with stakeholders to discuss Mass Rapid Transport planning, broadcast live on the national television. He created an open public space where ordinary people had unprecedented access to public policy making.

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53 Lelang Jabatan (Position’s Procurement) is an open recruitment for all civil servants meeting certain requirements to become a camat (district head) or lurah (subdistrict head). See the process and news

Ahok’s meeting in the Office of Public Works (Dinas Pekerjaan Umum) on November 24, 2012, also became a YouTube hit, showing Ahok sternly castigating and investigating budget mark-ups. The Jakarta local government (Pemerintah Propinsi) has also created a special YouTube channel to publicize its activities, increase support and ensure transparency.⁵⁴

Soon after Jokowi was inaugurated as the governor of Jakarta, he made a bold decision to raise the regional minimum wage (Upah Minimum Regional) by 44%, from IDR 1.56 million to IDR 2.2 million. His decision pleased laborers, but upset the Indonesian Employers Association (Asosiasi Penguasa Indonesia), to the point that the vice president, Yudhi Komaruddin, publicly stated, “We regret having voted for Jokowi–Ahok” (Dhanny, 2012). This daring move, however, showed that Jokowi was not one to shy away from advancing the lower-middle class, even though it might alienate some of his more affluent supporters.

Populism can be viewed as a double-edged sword for democracy. It can provide further substance to the democratic procedure, especially when official institutions do not meet the will and the needs of the people. The representational role of political parties has been replaced by the mass media. However, the emergence of a populist

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54 The official Jakarta Government YouTube channel can be found at !

leader presents the opportunity for the rise of a powerful leader, and mass support can sometimes legitimize the leader’s actions and threaten essential checks and balances.

In Jakarta, the DPRD was fast losing the trust of the people. This declining trust towards parliament ensured that Jokowi had the support of the people when he was in dispute with the DPRD. This situation could be seen as unbalanced power relation between the executive and legislative bodies, and a threat to democracy. For example, difficulties surrounding the implementation of the Jakarta Health Card meant that some DPRD members now had ammunition to use against Jokowi. In June 2013, they threatened to use their interpellation rights over the scheme, which could lead to the impeachment of Jokowi. Enraged by this political threat, many people signed a petition to dismiss the members of parliament who initiated the interpellation. Some groups also circulated the names and photos of the members, advising citizens not to vote for them in the 2014 legislative election.

Jokowi’s victory in Jakarta has also influenced Indonesian politics. Some politicians became “Jokowi wannabes” by blatantly, if not superficially, copying Jokowi’s style. Some local leader candidates, for example, wore checkered shirts in their campaigns seeking to achieve similar results, hoping to increase their power or popularity by copying Jokowi’s style. Jokowi’s random blusukan visits have also

become a new trend among politicians, including the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. By assigning Jokowi to accompany Megawati to deliver her speech during the campaign, the PDIP also used Jokowi as an attractive prop to gain votes in various governor elections in Bali, North Sumatera and Central Java.

Jokowi’s story, from his struggle as a poor child to success as a rich merchant and then as mayor of Surakarta and governor of Jakarta, has also been dramatized on the big screen, featuring a number of famous actors in a movie titled Jokowi. The movie was screened in cinemas across Indonesia in June and July 2013. It garnered special attention, particularly in Solo, where hundreds of people waited in long queues to attend the premiere, strategically held on the day before Jokowi’s birthday (Khalik, 2013).

Jokowi’s populism has shown that democratic decentralization has shaped a new generation of leadership in Indonesia after 13 years of implementation. This would have been impossible in an authoritarian–centralistic regime.

At the very least, populism in Jakarta is evidence of the two promises of decentralization. First, decentralization is a training ground for political leadership. For the first time, grass-root level politicians are able to rise among the ranks, to achieve success at the very top. Jokowi started his political career as the mayor of Surakarta, and was re-elected by more than 90% of his original voters because of his good

performance. Building on this success, he was then elected as the governor of Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia.

Second, decentralization provides political education for the people. This research showed that the political change in Jakarta was not only because of Jokowi himself but also because of the characteristics of the voters. Jakartans were frustrated with the performance of the previous governor and were looking for a new alternative.

They are more educated than ever before, earn more, have good access to the media and are less bound by ethnic and religious social ties. Thus, campaign strategies using primordial and religious issues had little effect on the outcome of the election. Jokowi received more votes because of his good image (built up by the media), despite coming from outside Jakarta and paired with Ahok, a Christian Chinese politician.

Less trust in the political party means that voters will vote autonomously, based on their own preferences and not those of the elite. This explains why Foke (who was supported by the majority of political parties in parliament) failed and why Jokowi (supported by only two political parties) was successful.