The
ordinary king and us
Dwi Atmanta ; A staff
writer at The Jakarta Post
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JAKARTA
POST, 08 Februari 2015
Many viewed the popular Javanese wayang (puppet show)
fairytale Petruk dadi Ratu (Petruk becomes a king) as a self-fulfilled
prophecy with the assumption by Joko “Jokowi” Widodo of the presidency. Like
Petruk, one of the four eternal servants of the Pandawa in the Javanese
adaptation of the Mahabharata epic, Jokowi is deemed as a representative of
the ordinary people who climbs to the throne at the expense of the elite.
No one had any doubt about Jokowi’s commitment to the
people, as his performance as the mayor of Surakarta in 2005-2012 and
governor of Jakarta in 2012-2014 demonstrated. It was the proven track record
that lured the majority of voters to choose him in last year’s election over
his rival Prabowo Subianto, the antithesis of Jokowi in almost all aspects.
But now, less than four months into his term, many,
particularly his detractors, have started to sneer at Jokowi as the personification
of Petruk. As the story goes, Petruk is unqualified for the throne and
therefore his rise to power generates instability, if not a mess. Fortunately
his reign is short-lived.
So soon? Yes, according to the Javanese folklore, Petruk
is catapulted to the throne by accident after the amulet belonging to his
ailing master Abimanyu passes to him. Due to the amulet, Abimanyu, son of
Arjuna from Subadra, is destined to beget the future king of Hastinapura,
Parikesit. As soon as Abimanyu recovers, Petruk surrenders the amulet to the
deserving owner voluntarily.
In many ways Petruk’s perceived ineligibility to govern is
biased in favor of the elite to justify a long-held belief that ordinary men
are never born to rule but rather to serve. In fact, in many parts of the
world, Indonesia included, rulers mostly come from the elite. Regime change
cannot happen without the elite’s say so.
In the Indonesian context, the founding fathers belonged
to the educated elite and the national leadership circulated within the elite
group. Succession strictly involved the political blue blood, by birth or
marriage, until a lesser known furniture businessman, Jokowi, emerged.
Less than four months since his euphoric inauguration on
Oct. 20, 2014, however, Jokowi is facing an uphill, complicated struggle that
will prove whether he merits the top executive post. Instead of fighting his
opposition, Jokowi is, ironically, pitted against his own allies, who helped
him win the presidential race, in particular the Indonesian Democratic Party
of Struggle (PDI-P) and its paramount leader Megawati Soekarnoputri. What a
similarity with Petruk fighting his own Pandawa masters.
The rift centers on the nomination of Comr. Gen. Budi
Gunawan, formerly an adjutant to Megawati when she was president, as the
National Police chief, despite his implication in past corruption cases.
Jokowi is torn between his commitment to anticorruption,
which earned him popular support and loyalty to his party. Installing Budi,
whom the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named a suspect, will
cost Jokowi his credibility, not to mention his attempts to refute the
allegations that he is no more than a puppet president.
On the other hand, withdrawing Budi’s nomination will
spark a new political brouhaha given his endorsement by the House of
Representatives. The worst-case scenario will see the PDI-P withdraw its
political support from Jokowi, or if necessary lead a move to impeach him.
In fact some in the PDI-P inner circle have expressed
disappointment in Jokowi for not paying back enough to the party. Jokowi only
awarded three ministerial seats to the PDI-P despite its billing as the
election winner, compared with its middle-level coalition partner the NasDem
Party, which earned four Cabinet portfolios. Jokowi has reportedly also
angered Megawati by appointing Luhut Binsar Panjaitan the Presidential
Delivery Unit chief.
PDI-P deputy chairman Pramono Anung has dismissed claims
of a feud between Jokowi and PDI-P, saying Megawati had three times let
Jokowi take decisions that went against her wishes without hard feelings. The
first was the formation of the Transition Team prior to Jokowi’s
inauguration, the second was the appointment of Cabinet ministers whom
Megawati did not endorse and the third was a variety of bills proposed by the
government for the national legislative program that ran counter to the PDI-P
line, such as the national security bill.
One month has passed since the controversy surrounding
Budi’s nomination began. Not only have Jokowi’s critics and enemies piled on
the pressure for him to act quickly to resolve the matter beyond further
doubt, so too have his admirers. The crisis, which has been protracted and
has been seen to spiral out of his control, as evinced in the fierce collision
between the police and the KPK, has cast Jokowi in a very poor light. Many
more now believe the man who they once dubbed Satrio Piningit (the knight in
waiting) is no better than Petruk, who became a king by chance.
Jokowi has listened to many voices and taken necessary
action to anticipate the repercussions of whatever decision he will make on
Budi. His surprise approach to his former rival Prabowo and communication
with the opposition Red-and-White Coalition, his meetings with leaders of
legislative and judicial powers as well as his gathering of Army generals
before finally holding a discussion with Megawati and the leaders of the
Great Indonesia Coalition indicate that Jokowi is calculating well his moves
to ensure he remains in command of the game.
That Jokowi went ahead with his tour of three ASEAN
neighbors despite the crisis at home signals his confidence that everything
is under control and will remain so when he returns home to announce his
decision. He would not go overseas had the stalemate got worse.
When Jokowi finally withdraws Budi’s candidacy, names a
replacement and wins the battle, his resemblance to Petruk will continue. The
reason is that behind his modest, down-to-earth appearance, Petruk hides his
invincible powers that even gods cannot match.
People however do not expect him to show off. They only
want him to exercise his power to lead them to prosperity as promised. ●
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