Member of Commission II of the DPR from the Gerindra Faction, Azis Subekti, spoke about the institutional revolution and the path of Indonesian government today led by President Prabowo Subianto.
According to him, the Prabowo government is carrying out massive changes and acceleration to make Indonesia a developed country.
"History always provides a mirror, but it never gives a ready-made answer. It only shows patterns," said Azis, opening his view in a press statement received by reporters, Monday, January 5.
Azis said one of the most relevant patterns for reading Indonesia today is how a major change fails or succeeds depending on what the country does after a political shock occurs.
"At this point, the comparison between the Arab Spring and the revolutions in Europe becomes important, not as a historical nostalgia, but as a very actual policy lesson," he said.
"The Arab Spring is often understood as an explosion of people's anger against authoritarianism. In fact, its deepest roots are about the economy and dignity of life," continued the Gerindra politician.
Azis explained that Mohamed Bouazizi's tragic act in December 2010 was not merely a political protest, but the cry of a small citizen who was oppressed by bureaucracy, poverty, and an absent state.
The collapse of the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia, followed by the fall of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, gave rise to great hopes for change.
"However, many of these hopes have failed. In a number of Arab Spring countries, regime change was not followed by institutional restructuring that answered the most basic demands of the people: jobs, affordable basic necessities, business certainty, and a sense of fairness in dealing with the state," he said.
"The country changes its face, but the way it works is almost the same. As a result, the revolution turns into a cycle: the rulers fall, new rulers emerge, the economy remains fragile, and discontent continues to accumulate," Azis added.
According to Azis, this experience is very different from the revolutions in Europe, especially in England and France. The English Revolution of 1688 and the French Revolution of 1789 were born from power conflicts, but their main direction was not merely to replace the king. Both are thematic and long-term revolutions - revolutions that change institutional structures to support economic agendas and the welfare of citizens.
"Britain reorganized state and market relations, built legal certainty, strengthened fiscal institutions, and paved the way for the Industrial Revolution. France, despite its turbulence, eventually dismantled the old order that hindered economic mobility and opened up space for a modern state based on nationality. The point is the same: political change is locked by institutional change and economic orientation," he explained.
This lesson, according to Azis, found strong relevance in the context of Indonesia today. He said, President Prabowo Subianto's government is taking steps that, in many ways, are unusual. Where the institutional structure of the central government is enlarged, then the number of ministries and deputy ministers increases.
"On the surface, this policy is easy to attack with a narrative of waste. However, if read in a more complete framework, the step actually reflects a conscious political choice: increasing the capacity of the state machine to pursue acceleration," said the Gerindra legislator for Central Java.
Azis emphasized that Indonesia was not walking casually. But the target of getting out of the middle-income trap and jumping to a developed country requires a speed that cannot be achieved with a half-power engine.
"The President chose the strategy of acceleration, expansion and strengthening of sectoral engines so that the country is able to move quickly, catch up, and secure the demographic momentum," he said.
"This choice is accompanied by strict fiscal arrangements. The central government is adjusting the APBN posture to close spending leaks, strengthen revenue through regulation of the mining sector, regulation of forest areas, increased compliance of large taxpayers, and customs optimization," added Azis.
In fact, continued Azis, the transfer to the regions was temporarily cut, a policy that was not popular, but showed that fiscal discipline was placed as a foundation. At the same time, investment directions were emphasized on the downstreaming of natural resources so that added value and employment did not continue to flow abroad. SOEs assets were consolidated to strengthen the leverage of the national economy.
"All these steps boil down to one important thing, the state is building a fiscal space and policy capacity. Public money is then directed to programs whose impact is directly felt by the community - from Free Nutritious Meals, strengthening village cooperatives, to various forms of social protection and human resource investment. This is an effort to make development a daily experience for citizens, not just a macroeconomic report," explained the member of the Commission which deals with domestic governance.
"But here is where Indonesia's real challenge arises. Almost all of these strategic programs are run by central ministries and agencies, but the locus of implementation is in the regions. The regional government is the regional engine of national development. If this engine is not coordinated, then the acceleration in the center will slow down in the field," he continued.
Therefore, Azis emphasized, the policy of bureaucratic simplification and the organization of local government institutions should not be understood as limited to administrative efficiency or budget savings.
But it must be positioned as part of a big agenda of institutional change, a thematic revolution ala Indonesia.
He emphasized that the PANRB Ministry and the Ministry of Home Affairs needed to ensure that the structure and governance of the Regional Government were able to collaborate with the central sectoral machinery, especially in the implementation of national strategic projects and programs that directly affect the people.
"This arrangement cannot be rigidly uniform. General policies are needed to ensure national standards, but the space for regional adaptation must still be maintained. The social, cultural, and economic characteristics of each region are different. This is where it is important to have SOPs that are agreed upon together - not imposed unilaterally - so that regional institutions remain relevant and effective," said Azis.
"More importantly, institutional arrangements must be oriented towards public service. A simple, certain, and easily accessible bureaucracy is not just about the convenience of citizens, but about the legitimacy of the state. When the service is complicated, distrust grows. When the service is simple and fair, trust becomes a social capital for development," he continued.
However, Azis reminded, Indonesia must also be wary of the trap of extractive institutions, structures that appear strong and fast, but only serve narrow interests and undermine public participation. History shows, this kind of institution may be effective in the short term, but fragile in the long term.
"The safer and more sustainable option is an inclusive institution: an institution that is built consistently, is adaptive to technological and social changes, and is in the interest of the majority of citizens," he said.
In the end, continued Azis, the main purpose of institutional restructuring both at the center and at the regional level is not merely to make bureaucracy look modern and efficient.
"The ultimate goal is to ensure that the state is truly present in the lives of the people: opening economic access, protecting the weak, providing equal opportunities, and providing dignified public services. At this point, Indonesia learns from history to avoid the recurring Arab Spring cycle, and takes the essence of the European revolution to take its own path to a stable and just developed country," concluded Azis Subekti.
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