Examining Jokowi's Expressions During A Address At The MPR Annual Session

President Jokowi at the MPR Annual Session (Special doc)

JAKARTA - Recently, President Joko Widodo showed an expression of anger when speaking in front of his ministers on 18 June. Many parties considered Jokowi's remarks and gestures as an expression of anger at his ministers.

So what about Jokowi's expression and gesture when delivering his state speech at the MPR Joint DPR-DPD Annual Session, last Friday? An expert on body language and microexpression Monica Kumalasari, said that if Jokowi appears more relaxed and relaxed when delivering a speech in front of legislators.

"Jokowi looks more relaxed and relaxed, building eye contact with the audience who attend almost all the time," Monica said as quoted by Antara, Saturday, August 15.

According to him, when the president wore traditional Sabu clothes from East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), it could be interpreted as a commitment to support Indonesia, which has a diverse culture.

Jokowi's speech was started by using a metaphor for the pandemic's condition through a computer analogy. He said that metaphors are the fastest way to convey messages that can be easily accepted by all levels of society.

However, Monica caught several micro expressions when Jokowi delivered several sentences and issues such as prioritizing strengthening human resource capacity, developing hospitals, health centers as well as the drug and medical equipment industry. In his observations there were few emotions of anger, sadness and annoyance shown by Jokowi.

Monica argues that the mixture of expressions between anger, sadness and annoyance can be seen when the president talks about building a national ecosystem that is conducive to expanding quality employment opportunities. "We want everyone to work. We want everyone to prosper."

President Joko Widodo's state speech at the annual session of the MPR (Special Doc)

"From the subconscious emotions displayed, it seems that it corresponds to the news that was excited at the June 18 2020 Cabinet Session in which Jokowi threatened to reshuffle his cabinet, namely the Ministry of Health and the Coordinating Ministry for the Economy," he said.

One other thing that Monica analyzed was when Jokowi talked about the Supreme Court's performance which was said to be very positive. When Jokowi said, "The success of the Supreme Court is also thanks to the support of the Judicial Commission in accordance with its authority".

Monica said, "In this sentence, subtle micro-expressions appear with lip movements that show expressions of anger and sadness. This discrepancy between verbal and non-verbal messages needs to be studied more deeply."