De-bureaucratization, Deregulation Pivotal to Achieve Progress: President Jokowi
President Jokowi delivers the state address before the Joint Session of the Regional Representatives Council of the Republic of Indonesia and the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia in Jakarta, Friday (16/8). Photo by: Oji/PR.
De-bureaucratization and deregulation are crucial for the progress of the nation, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has said.
“We must continue de-bureaucratization, simplify working procedures, and simplify processes that are oriented to services. We must continue to prevent corruption without disrupting the courage to innovate. We must make the most of technology, which turns difficulty into ease and which turn complicated matters into simple matters,” President Jokowi stated in his State Address on the Occasion of the 74th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Independence of the Republic of Indonesia in Jakarta, Friday (16/8).
The President added that the Government, the House of Representatives, the Regional Representatives Council and the People’s Consultative Assembly, as well as regional governments and Regional Legislative Council must not be trapped in the regulations which are rigid, replete with formalities, complex, complicated, full of lip service which will in fact, hurt and bring difficulties to the public and business sector.
“We cannot let regulations trap us, scare us, and hinder us to innovate. Such regulations must be eliminated to the roots. Regulations that are not compatible with the recent development must be removed. Inconsistent and overlapping regulations must also be synchronized, simplified and streamlined,” he said.
President Jokowi also called on the nation to respond to new threats that are not yet regulated in laws and regulations, adding that the adoption of technology that inflicts damage to the civilization of the nation and endangers unity and democracy must be regulated in a measurable way.
All parties, he added, must stand ready to face the threats posed by cyber crimes, including the crime of data misuse.
The President added that data is a new type of resources for the nation and is more precious than oil. “Rights of the citizens for personal data must be protected. The regulations must be immediately formulated. No compromise,” President Jokowi said.
The President went on to say that the core of regulations is to protect the interests of the people and to protect the interests of the state and the nation, adding that regulations must make it easier for people to achieve their goals, must provide a sense of security, and must provide ease for the people to do good and also push everyone to innovate towards an Advanced Indonesia.
“I call on all the executive rank to work with greater efficiency. Why do we must go abroad for comparative study if we can access all the information we need through our smartphone?” The President said, adding that today everyone can gather information about the United States, Russia, or Germany through their smartphone.
President Jokowi maintained that performance indicators for legal and human rights enforcers must be changed, including that of corruption eradication officers and strict law enforcement must be encouraged, and firm human rights enforcement must be appreciated.
However, he said, the success of law enforcers is not only measured by the number of cases investigated or the number of people sent to penitentiaries. In fact, it must be measured by the number of potential violations of laws and human rights that can be prevented and the amount of state loss potential that could be prevented, he added
“We need to highlight this. Therefore, it is management, governance, and system that must be developed,” the President said, adding that the same principle applies to measure the performance of supervisory apparatus and executive bureaucrats.
Good governance, he added, is not measured by a lengthy and complex procedure. Instead, good governance is reflected in a fast and simple procedure that provides room for breakthroughs that promotes leaps of progress.
“Works of the Government, works of executive bureaucrats, and works of supervisory bureaucrats must be result-oriented. Once again, they must be result-oriented,” the President stressed.
Budget realization, according to the President, is not measured by the amount of budget disbursed but by the quality of service provided for the people and the extent it can provide ease for the people. Measuring government accountability must not be seen from the number of forms that are filled and reported but by the quality of products that are produced, he added
“State budget must be fully dedicated to the people,” he said.
President Jokowi further said that the adoption of the latest technology has opened up opportunities to ease matters that used to be complicated, to lower the price of things that used to be costly, and to expedite matters that used to be slow and long.
Simplifying procedures and adoption of the latest technology at works, President Jokowi said, must also be coupled with simplification of organizations, adding that organizations with overlapping functions must be merged and administrative works that can be done with computers and Artificial Intelligence must be initiated.
“Therefore, the number of organizations and the number of inefficient and irrelevant apparatus must be cut. We immediately will address (the issue),” the President said, adding that quality and culture of all apparatus, starting from state apparatus, bureaucrats, personnel of the Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI) and personnel of the Indonesian National Police, and high-ranking officials of state-owned enterprises (SOE) must be immediately improved.
“There is no compromise with apparatus that betray Pancasila. There is no compromise with apparatus who do not serve the people, who do not go to the fields and meet the people. Instead, we must find and extend appreciation to apparatus who always spread optimism, who always find smart shortcuts, and who whole-heartedly serve the people,” President Jokowi concluded. (Tim Liputan MPR-DPD-DPR/ES)
Translated by: Ridwan Ibadurrohman
Edited by: Ersan Pamungkas
