YLBHI Shares 10 Similarities between Jokowi's Leadership and Soeharto

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation or YLBHI said the leadership of President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has many similarities with the New Order era led by Soeharto. YLBHI outlined ten points of the resemblance via its Instagram on Sunday, Feb. 13.

“It was made by the Civil Society Coalition, which is part of the Indonesian People's Faction (FRI). We helped by reposting it from FRI’s account,” YLBHI chair Muhammad Isnur told Tempo on Monday, Feb. 14.

Although such criticism did not come from his side, Isnur said YLBHI had made a study revealing signs of authoritarianism in the Jokowi's government. 

“YLBHI notes signs of an authoritarian government from at least 27 policies since 2014,” as read in the study which was published on June 14, 2020.

The ten similarities between Jokowi’s leadership and Suharto's New Order era are as follow:

1. Prioritizing physical development by taking an approach that is mostly designed top-down to pursue political targets while neglecting democracy, 
2. Corrupt and nepotistic development,
3. No risk planning for people affected by the development which leads to structural poverty (impoverishment), 
4. Unlicensed development projects or those with problematic permits,
5. Issuing legal products (laws and policies) without the legitimacy of people,
6. Serving the will of power and the oligarchic elite by plundering and destroying the environment,
7. Creating stigma to the people who fight against the deprivation of rights,
8. Arresting, criminalizing, and even shooting people who defend their rights,
9. Preventing or even apprehending assistants and residents who are in solidarity, and
10. Controlling the narrative and information including distorting facts.

“Jokowi's government is similar to the New Order era in the development sector. They deny the mandate of the Constitution by ignoring social justice as well as just and civilized humanity,” as quoted from the YLBHI’s post.

Read: COVID-19: Jokowi Reiterates Call to Indonesians to Stay Calm

M JULNIS FIRMANSYAH 

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