Jakarta – As criticism mounts against the first year of President "Jokowi" Widodo and Vice President Ma'ruf Amin's administration, Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko has come to the administration's defense, claiming that despite obstacles stemming from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the government has recorded several achievements.
"We've accepted corrections and input, of course, because the government is not perfect. We are only human," he said on Wednesday as reported by tempo.co.
He also added that the COVID-19 pandemic had also hindered the government from carrying out its many agendas. "But, we always try to improve," he said.
Citing an annual reported published by the Executive Office of the President, Moeldoko listed a number of achievements of the administration, including those in human resources development, infrastructure development, simplification of bureaucracy and regulations, as well as economic transformation, he said.
The administration, according to the report, had improved the human development index, exemplifying that the life expectancy of someone born in 2019 could reach an average age of 71.34 years old, an increase of 0.56 years from four years ago.
The report also said the Education and Culture Ministry's Merdeka Belajar (Freedom to Learn) program, which was launched early this year, had further improved the Program for International Student Assessment score in the country.
Moeldoko further explained that amid the economic downfall due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 report said Indonesia had maintained a better and steady score of economic growth among other Southeast Asian countries or even among G20 countries.
The recently passed Job Creation Law was also listed among Jokowi and Ma'ruf's achievements, as it summarized some 79 laws and unified 11 clusters into a single legal product.
Jokowi, who is serving his second and final term, and Ma'ruf were officially sworn into office on Oct 20 last year. The President vowed in his inauguration speech to pass an omnibus bill aimed to streamline regulations to help bolster investment in the country.
Their first year in office, however had been met with criticism, centering on the passage of the controversial law and the handling of COVID-19.
A recent survey by Kompas involving 549 people found that 52.5 percent of respondents were dissatisfied with the Jokowi-Ma'ruf administration's performance.
The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence reported last week an indication of democratic decline during the first year of the administration, calling it a "democratic recession" feared to create a rightward shift toward an authoritarian government. (trn)