Success In The COVID-19 Vaccine Program, Public Trust Level In President Jokowi Rises

JAKARTA - The results of the Indometer survey show that the level of public satisfaction with the performance of the Indonesian President Joko Widodo's administration in the last 3 months has continued to increase.

In February 2021, the level of satisfaction with Jokowi touched 70.1 percent. While this month it touched 71.3 percent.

"The level of public satisfaction with Jokowi's performance edged up and was maintained at around 70 percent. This shows the amount of public support for the government's efforts to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recovery", said Indometer Executive Director Leonard SB in a press release in Jakarta reported by Antara, Friday, May 7.

On the other hand, the number of dissatisfaction also increased, but not as big as the level of satisfaction. In the February 2021 survey, the public who felt dissatisfied with Jokowi reached 25.2 percent, now it has increased slightly to 25.8 percent. The rest stated that they did not know/did not answer as much as 2.9 percent.

According to Leonard, public optimism was awakened through intense vaccination events in all regions.

Indonesia is also considered to be fast in securing vaccine stocks amid the embargo on the British vaccine, AstraZeneca. The second wave of pandemics that hit countries such as India also affected global vaccine needs.

Meanwhile, the economic recovery is still facing challenges with the high number of positive cases of COVID-19.

Social restrictions are still being enforced, plus a ban on homecoming to Eid 2021 which is implemented to prevent a spike in cases.

The government reflects on India, which has risen drastically due to religious festivals involving millions of people.

"Economic growth in the first quarter of 2021 has not moved from the negative zone although it has continued to increase since the third quarter of 2020", said Leonard.

However, many people questioned the high target for the second quarter of 2021 that was set by the Government if they saw the upward trend that was not sharp enough.

The public also appreciates the performance of the Jokowi administration, as evidenced by the high public satisfaction.

On the other hand, several problems must be overcome to bring Indonesia out of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic impact.

"Public optimism remains high. Even so, it must be guarded against policy choices that can really be made", said Leonard.

Indometer Survey was conducted from 27 April to 3 May 2021 by telephone to 1,200 respondents throughout Indonesia who were randomly selected from the previous survey since 2019. The survey margin of error was ± 2.89 percent at a 95 percent confidence level.