TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - As soon as he takes charge of the new government, president-elect Joko Widodo will have little choice but to reduce spending. One way would be to cut back the huge budget for official travel. Such an endeavor would not only salvage state funds, it might just reform the bureaucracy.
Total spending on official travel by the central government has been allocated at Rp35 trillion. This figure, which is included in the proposed 2015 State Budget, is around 30 percent higher than that of the previous year. It includes Rp11 trillion for meetings out of town, but excludes the Rp38 trillion allocated for overseas travel.
It's time Jokowi shared this sensitive issue with the public. The flick-passing technique-which he often used when he was governor of Jakarta-has its good uses. It would let the public know the precise details of the State Budget, and provide him with the support he needs to initiate changes.
Together with his deputy Jusuf Kalla, Jokowi should reorganize the budget in order to realize the Nawacita (Nine Priorities) program they promised during the campaign. They want to provide citizens with a more extensive social guarantee through the Smart Card and Health Card programs. The long-delayed construction of the infrastructure should also be launched.
The proposed 2015 State Budget drawn up by the administration of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono amounts to a whopping Rp2,019 trillion. But it's full of holes and it is difficult to see how it can spur economic growth. Most of it will be consumed by central government spending and energy subsidies-Rp274 trillion of fuel and Rp72 trillion for electricity. Only Rp118 trillion will be left for infrastructure. These funds are allocated to two ministries: Rp74 trillion for Public Works and Rp44 trillion for Transport.
President Yudhoyono should have resolved the two important problems of energy subsidies and the bureaucracy's wasted spending. But instead of raising fuel prices, the government decided to try and save fuel-although this eventually failed. And there have been few reforms to the bureaucracy except for the production of a road map for each ministry in accordance with Presidential Regulation No. 81/2010 on the 2010-2015 Grand Design for Bureaucratic Reforms.
Although civil servants' compensation has been increased in several ministries, this has not eradicated the sickness within the bureaucracy. Officials continue to compete for projects and programs. They make use of every opportunity to add to their incomes, including inflating the costs of official travel.
The slow pace of bureaucratic reforms can be seen from several indicators. In 2013, our nation's corruption perception index was 32 (on a scale of 0-100)-below Singapore (87), Brunei (55) and Malaysia (49). And the effectiveness of our governance index fell to minus 0.3.
The level of Internet use in bureaucratic services is still low. According to the 2014 e-Government Development Index, Indonesia is being left farther and farther behind by Malaysia and Sri Lanka, despite the importance of the Internet in rendering public services more efficient and in increasing tax revenues.
Jokowi's leadership style was effective when he governed Jakarta. Together with his deputy, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, he laid bare many of Jakarta's problems, including the poor quality of the regional bureaucracy, to the people in face-to-face public meetings. The reforms supported by the people succeeded in reducing wastage and increasing regional revenues (PAD) by 36 percent within a year. When he was sworn in as governor, the Jakarta PAD was only Rp22 trillion. By last year, it had risen to Rp30 trillion.
This tactic of working together with the people could be applied again, although he will have to be very careful. Pressure from the Jakarta legislature and bureaucracy is quite different from the pressures at the national level. Relying on support from the public will not be enough, and he must not ignore the backing of the parties in his coalition. He should also communicate with the political parties in the Red and White Coalition-supporters of Prabowo Subianto and Hatta Rajasa in the recent presidential election.
Last but not least, he must not hesitate to work with the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the Financial Transactions Reporting and Analysis Center (PPATK) to reform the bureaucracy. Jokowi's leadership style can still be effective if he is able to embrace as many friends as possible in the endeavor to reform this republic. (*)
Read the full story in this week's edition of Tempo English Magazine
