Satisfaction With COVID-19 Handling Is Low, PKB: The Results From 255 Countries Are Also Unsatisfactory

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Political Opinion Institute (IPO) has released a survey related to the handling of the pandemic and the impact of the 2024 political constellation.

Based on the survey results, only 52 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with the performance of President Joko Widodo in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, 41 percent of respondents were dissatisfied with Jokowi's performance.

Meanwhile, 58 percent of respondents were dissatisfied with Vice President Ma'ruf Amin's performance in handling the COVID-19 pandemic. Only 32 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with the vice president's performance.

Responding to the survey, Deputy Chairperson of PKB Jazilul Fawaid, said that public dissatisfaction with the government does not only occur in Indonesia but also in other countries.

"Indeed, all 255 countries that have faced COVID-19 have the same results, not very satisfying. Because COVID-19 is difficult to predict," Jazilul said in a virtual discussion entitled "Pandemic and Political Constellation 2024" Saturday, August 14.

Actually, Jazilul said, the pandemic in Indonesia had improved in June. However, the distribution of the Delta variant from India quickly made the situation worse again. Finally, in July Indonesia again experienced a critical period.

"Indonesia in June was quite sloping but then it went up again, there was a Delta variant and it was more severe," he explained.

On the other hand, the Deputy Chairperson of the MPR criticized the problem of social assistance (bansos). He assessed that the government's orientation must be in line, between aspects of social protection that function as a support for the people's economy and effective handling.

Because according to him, if the government only relies on social assistance to overcome the pandemic problem, it cannot be the final solution to saving people's lives.

"Regarding social assistance activities, it is actually an activity to delay and anticipate the situation, not to solve (the pandemic problem) it is only a short-term therapy," said Jazilul.