53 Students Fight For Scholarships For Comparative Study Of Jokowi's And SBY's Leadership, Some From Oslo University To UGM

Photo: BPMI Setpres/Muchlis Jr.

JAKARTA - Scholarships for academic studies to compare the performance of President Joko Widodo and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono are in great demand. So far, 53 applicants have registered. Researcher of Sukarno's Geopolitical Thought, Hasto Kristiyanto, admitted that he was very surprised by the number of students who applied for scholarships that specifically carried out academic studies to compare the leadership of President Jokowi and President SBY. "The interest is very large, reaching 53 people. Most of them take master's and doctoral programs and come from well-known universities," said Hasto in his statement, Monday, October 25. Hasto explained, there were applicants from the University of Indonesia, Gajah Mada University (UGM), Airlangga University, UIN Banda Aceh, to Oslo University, Manila University, and University Sains Malaysia. The research studies include government science, politics, public policy, leadership, psychology, management, government organizational institutions and others. the process of becoming a leader, the capacity of the leader, the leader's achievements, responsibilities and how the legacy of a president is taken. "Is the leadership of a president really for the nation and state or just for the sake of popularity," he said.

In addition, Hasto explained, various studies related to the quality of elections during the leadership of a president are also important. For example, why in the era of democracy with very tight competition, in 2009 there were political parties that achieved a 300 percent increase in the number of votes. This research, said Hasto, is very interesting. Because, he said, it could be known whether this was the result of organizational work or interference from power. "For PDIP, efforts to improve the quality of elections are a very interesting academic study theme because they are objective and can be methodically accountable academically," he explained.

By prioritizing research for policy analysis, Hasto hopes, there will be an increase in the quality of democracy. "How the Indonesian political system really serves the people, nation and state of Indonesia," said Hasto.

Previously, Hasto Kristiyanto offered scholarships for those who wish to conduct academic studies to compare the performance between President Jokowi and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY). This was conveyed by Hasto in response to an innuendo from the Deputy of Bappilu DPP of the Democratic Party, Kamhar Lakumani, who considered himself asleep during SBY's leadership.

According to Hasto, an academic study is needed so that later the performance comparison between SBY and Jokowi will be objective and not just claim each other.

"Actually, the most objective thing is to do an academic study, using a mix method," he explained.

From a quantitative perspective, according to him, this can be done by comparing the infrastructure development that took place in the two presidential leaderships.

"How about the number of bridges built between Pak SBY and Pak Jokowi in 10 years now. The number of ports, toll roads, agricultural lands for the people, dams for the people, it can be done objective research," he said.

Hasto is even willing to spend his own money so that the performance comparison is objective and can be justified academically.

"So that it doesn't become a political rumor, it doesn't become a political issue, but based on academic studies that can be accounted for in terms of objectivity," he said.