President Jokowi Gives Six Directives to Regional Gov’t Leaders

President Jokowi during a meeting with heads of regional governments across Indonesia in Jakarta, Monday (10/30). (Photo by: PR of Cabinet Secretariat/Oji)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has given several directives to heads of regional governments in facing impacts of various global challenges.

The President stated his directives during a meeting with all regional government leaders across Indonesia on Monday (10/30) in Jakarta.

First, the President ordered regional leaders to control inflation by maintaining the stability of basic necessity prices in their respective regions.

“Control inflation. Do maintain the stability of prices, especially basic necessity prices. Monitor real prices at the market. Take a hands-on approach. If a problem occurs, make interventions as I have said before. You can give subsidy for transportation,” he said.

Second, the President urged regional leaders to remain vigilant of impacts of the El Niño phenomenon, especially on commodity production drop.

“Although it has begun to rain, I need to remind you to be vigilant of fire potentials. Do immediately put it out when [the fire] is small. If you cannot do it, inform the central National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB) shortly,” he said.

Third, regarding bureaucratic reforms, President Jokowi urged for simplification of procedures and governance, especially in licensing services for investors as investment highly influences national economic growth.

“How can we compete if it takes months to process a license? You have to go to this desk, that desk, this desk, that desk. Governors, regents, and mayors must sort it out because now all countries are vying for investment,” he said.

Fourth, the President urged regional governments to allocate budgets for economic stimulation and social assistance for the public.

“If city/regency governments give five kilograms [of rice], the problem will be solved. The public will be appeased. And I also urge you to purchase local products, especially [the products] of our MSMEs,” he said.

Fifth, the President pushed regional governments to give full support to the Government’s priority programs, including extreme poverty alleviation, stunting alleviation, and industry downstreaming.

Sixth, President Jokowi stressed the importance of regional leaders’ role in making the 2024 simultaneous general elections successful.

The President also urged that they continue to support the Regional General Election Commission (KPUD) and General Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) without making any intervention and ensure that state civil apparatus remain neutral.

“I order that there be no partisanship. You are under scrutiny. It is easy to notice whether you take a side or not. You must also make sure that state civil apparatus are neutral,” he said while urging regional leaders to maintain social harmony.

“Finally, do maintain harmony at the grassroots. Do immediately solve issues that are related to politics,” he remarked. (FID/UN) (DH/MUR)