Former Opposition and Current Agrarian Minister AHY Praises Jokowi's Leadership

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Minister of Agrarian and Spatial Planning Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, or AHY praised President Joko Widodo, or Jokowi as an active leader who is willing to directly go on the ground. The statement was relayed after AHY accompanied Jokowi for the first time on Friday since he took office on Feb. 21, 2024.

“If the leader truly is active, not just behind the desk but out there on the ground to inspect, evaluate, as well as perform leadership and management, it could mobilize the ranks in the cabinet, the ministries, to the local government,” he said on Saturday.

Throughout his stay in North Sulawesi, AHY accompanied Jokowi to inaugurate the Lolak Dam in Bolaang Mongondow Regency. The inauguration, he said, was not a mere ceremonial event, but had a deeper meaning regarding its developmental process. He also accompanied the president to inaugurate local roads, visit MSMEs, and inspect the Bulog warehouse in Bitung.

“So there were quite the amount of agendas for a one-day visit to a province, in addition to Jokowi’s last visit to South Sulawesi,” he said while recalling his first experience accompanying the president in his capacity as a minister in the Onward Indonesia Cabinet.

Opposition to Supporter

Before his time as a supporter of Prabowo-Gibran, the Head of the Democratic Party took the role of an opposition to the government. AHY criticized several policies in Jokowi’s administration, including food estate and economic growth.

On the food estate program, he believed the program was made without proper planning. “How’s the food estate program?” he remarked a year ago on Tuesday, March 14, 2023.

AHY also criticized the Job Creation Law, claiming that the regulation deviated from legal norms. He stressed that the Democratic Party was firm on its stance against the Job Creation Law since the regulation did not represent the working class’ aspirations.

In addition, AHY also alluded to a 9-year stagnant economic growth, despite Jokowi’s pledge for a 7-8 percent growth. He slammed the government for using the pandemic as a scapegoat for the slow economic growth. 

“Our economy was already a problem even before the pandemic. So, there must be other factors,” he said on July 14, 2023, quoted from the Democratic Party’s YouTube channel.

Last, AHY also criticized the economic policy of Jokowi’s administration, claiming that the budget is often used to fund “mercusuar projects that have little impact to regular citizens”,  said on March 14, 2023.

ANTARA

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