CSIS: The Root Of The Demonstration Wave Problem Due To The Crisis Of Trust In The Government

Rupiah Dollar (Photo: antara)

JAKARTA - The recent wave of demonstrations in various cities of Indonesia, ranging from Pati, Bone, Jakarta to Makassar, reflects that socio-economic unrest is getting stronger in the community.

Thousands of people took to the streets to protest against government policies that were considered unfair and less sensitive to the people's condition.

Senior Researcher of the Ministry of Economics CSIS Deni Friawan said the protests heated up after the death of Affan Kurniawan, an online motorcycle taxi driver, in the midst of a demonstration.

According to him, the demonstration was not a temporary reaction, but an accumulation of the crisis of trust in the government.

"The root of the problem is that there is a crisis of trust in the government due to the collapse of fiscal legitimacy," Deni said in a public discussion entitled "Wake up call from the streets: Our Democracy and Economic Tests" online, Tuesday, September 2.

According to Deni, the public is asked to pay taxes and receive budget efficiency, but the government actually looks wasteful, for example by increasing the number of ministries and institutions, increasing the salaries of officials and maintaining positions in SOEs which are considered inefficient.

"In the theory of the political economy, we know that taxes are social contracts between the people and the state. Here citizens will be willing to pay taxes when they believe the state will provide reciprocity in the form of public services, stability and justice. Unfortunately, the sense of justice today has faded because of a contradiction to government policies," he said.

Deni also highlighted that economic inequality is still high. Although national economic growth is stable in the range of 5 percent, this growth is capital-intensive and uneven.

For example, the Gini ratio is still at 0.39, showing significant inequality. Even though the poverty rate has decreased, many people are at the poverty line.

This condition makes residents vulnerable to economic turmoil, including food inflation. The price of rice, for example, is currently in the range of Rp. 14,000-Rp. 18,000 per kilogram, inversely proportional to the government's claims regarding stock and production increases.

In terms of employment, although the unemployment rate looks low, the number of unemployed actually increases and the quality of work is inadequate.

Most of the work is in the informal sector, with stagnant income not balanced with rising cost of living.

In the midst of these pressures, the government's fiscal policy is considered increasingly unfair. The social assistance budget is shrinking, while spending on expensive projects such as Mercusuar Digital Government (MDG) and defense spending is increasing without adequate transparency.

"The Free Nutrition Food Budget (MBG) rose from Rp107 trillion to Rp335 trillion, absorbing 44 percent of the education budget. Defense and security spending reached Rp565 trillion or 19 percent of the state budget," he said.

In addition, Deni also criticized the plan to increase BPJS contributions as well as soaring salaries and allowances for members of the DPR to Rp1.4 billion per month/member, if calculated all allowances and facilities.

"The problem is how the budget is spent and held accountable after its transparency is still unclear to this day," said Deni.

Furthermore, Deni warned, without fiscal justice and a more pro-people policy direction, the wave of demonstrations could be an early signal of broader social instability in Indonesia.

"The protest wave that took place today is none other than the rejection of inequality and social contracts, which today are very lame and unfair. In short, these protests are an accumulation of unrest over the difficulty of life which is increasingly strangling and disappointment with the country which today feels increasingly ignored," he concluded.