Compared to SBY, Jokowi is ‘a bit different’

Photo Illustration By Andry Winarko (VOI)

JAKARTA Since the reform era, Indonesia has held five presidential elections directly. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) was elected in the 2004 and 2009 presidential elections, Joko Widodo (Jokowi) 2014 and 2019, and finally there were the names Prabowo Subianto in the 2024 presidential election.

Of the three names, two of them have stepped down pre-bond, namely SBY and Jokowi. However, both of them have differences before stepping down from their place of power in the country. That's right, both of them are working together to polish or display a positive image before getting out of the presidency.

SBY, who, according to the results of the Political Indicators survey, has a satisfaction rate in performance in the range of 45-85 percent with the majority satisfaction rate in the range of 50-60 percent ahead of the step down, is known to continue to strive to maintain his positive image. The role of social media at that time has not yet been massive, making SBY choose to appear in the media as often as possible.

One example is the appearance of SBY with his family in an interview at a private TV station with the title 'SBY and Family Talk'. Political communication observer Ari Junaedi considered that this was SBY's way of leaving behind positive memories and images before getting out of the presidency.

SBY wants to leave a beautiful memory of himself and his family. SBY does not want the public to know him as a president who does not excel. Moreover, ahead of the end of SBY as RI-1, slanted issues and gossip about Cikeas continue to appear in the public through the media. The tax case, the alleged case of giving money to Ibas, even the alleged family's ambition to take over control of the Democratic Party and others, has become the target of issues being digested by the public through the media. Through media, SBY also wants to fend off the accusations," he explained, Thursday, March 21, 2014.

According to him, the appearance in this media is SBY's way of strategy in reversing the image that has been recorded in public memory. He suspects that SBY wants the public to know him as a leader who has succeeded in building a state foundation and successful development.

On the other hand, Jokowi is actually 'not late'. Unlike SBY, before stepping down, Jokowi allegedly asked related ministries such as the Ministry of Communication and Information to intensify the government's success campaign for the last ten years to polish the image of the former Governor of DKI Jakarta, both on conventional media and social media.

However, the allegations were dismissed by the Director General of Information and Public Communication at the Ministry of Communication and Information, Prabu Revolution, who emphasized that he had never issued an official letter or document regarding cooperation between the government and the media regarding the success campaign of Jokowi's government.

"If someone says they are offered, try having a letter or not? It is impossible for Kominfo to make cooperation without documents, this is the good corporate governance that we are protecting. I want to know more, because as long as I am in Kominfo there has never been a offer of billions of rupiah and the media," he said, Monday, October 14.

Jokowi/PHOTO via Instagram @jokowi

"It's okay"

"It's okay"

"It's okay"

"It's okay"

However, he admitted that there was cooperation between the government and a number of media to socialize various government achievements to the public that had been established for a long time and documented.

Jokowi's Success Orkestration And Manipulation Masif On Social Media

Unfortunately, the edge of the Ministry of Communication and Informatics was broken on social media. The Data & Democracy Research Hub agency found that there was a very massive 'orkestration' operation on X (formerly called Twitter) to change Jokowi's image, which was mostly negative, to positive.

Co-director of Data & Democracy Research Hub, Ika Idris revealed that this can be read from the use of the hashtag #Jokowi, #Thank You President Jokowi, #Congratulations Prabowo, #10thnJokowiPrabowo, and #NyattaJokowi, during the period 1 to 14 October 2024.

There is an orchestration or operation to manipulate Jokowi's image that is very massive on social media. There must be something driving this. At the end of his term of office, there were more negative conversations about Jokowi, ranging from emergency warnings, Fufufafa, dynastic politics to IKN. So it's like there was an attempt to clear Jokowi's name in his last moments," he explained.

He explained that Jokowi's campaign orchestration was seen from three indicators. The first is the average number of tweets per account. Based on the findings, there were 46,106 conversations involving 6,182 accounts. This means that each account tweets 7.45 times. That number is too much. Usually, if it's organic, it's only one to 1.5 instead, for the average tweet, "he added.

The second indicator is the pattern of time at the peak of the conversation. Data & Democracy Research Hub findings show a conversation about "Thank You Jokowi" reaching the peak at 12.00 to 15.00 WIB. Usually the way buzzers work is. If for example there is a twitter order, he will go up at a certain hour. Unlike organic ones or not using hashtags, only Jokowi, it tends to be evenly distributed in time, "said Ika.

The last indicator is a change in the sentiment of netizens' conversations. Data & Democracy Research Hub findings show that the conversation "Thank You Jokowi" has a positive tone of dominating. This means that it is deliberately made to create positive sentiment. Then if we look at the emoji, there is also the most joy, its content is to be happy like it," added Ika.

He said, if only Jokowi wrote down, negative sentiment was much greater. This can be seen in the analysis from June to the end of September, where the peak of negative conversations about Jokowi occurred on August 22, when an "emergency warning emerged" in response to the DPR's plan to revise the Pilkada Law.

Drone Emprit analysis also shows the same pattern, with a record of more than 175 million interactions and 25,000 mentions involving 4,846 accounts on various social media platforms, from 1-14 October 2024 in the campaign Thank you Jokowi. Of that number of interactions, the biggest was on platform X which reached 171 million interactions, then on Tiktok it was 3.6 million, and followed by Youtube (198,843), Facebook (21,084) and Instagram (3,889).

According to Drone Emprit researcher Rizal Nova Mujahid, the accounts that produce the most positive conversations are ministries, institutions, SOEs as well as Jokowi's supporters. They discussed economic progress, infrastructure, tourism, and taking sides with vulnerable groups for 10 years of Jokowi's administration.

He revealed, the campaign trend 'Thank you Jokowi' continues to increase day by day even though it is thin and carried out in an organized manner. That's right, this is very organized, judging from the similar narrative, the timing of the post is not far apart. Then the tendency between the accounts that have interactions, and there is a cluster that looks very close," Nova added.

Jokowi and Prabowo (Photo: Antara)

"It's okay"

"It's okay"

"It's okay"

Jokowi Wariskan Kehidukan Jumbo Ke Prabowo Subianto

In terms of debt heritage to the next government, Jokowi is also 'not late' compared to SBY. In 2014, SBY's government debt inherited from SBY to Jokowi was known to be Rp2,608.78 trillion or equivalent to 24.7 percent of GDP. Meanwhile, Jokowi will leave a debt legacy of more than Rp. 8,000 trillion or equivalent to 39.13 percent of GDP, for the elected president, Prabowo Subianto.

In the August 2024 edition of the KiTa State Budget, the Ministry of Finance reported that the amount of government debt reached IDR 8,502.69 trillion as of July 31, 2024. The debt includes Government Securities (SBN) of IDR 7,462.25 trillion or around 87.76 percent and loans of IDR 1,040.44 trillion or 12.24 percent.

The jumbo debt heritage made Prabowo directly faced with debt payments due to Rp800.33 trillion in 2025. In detail, Rp705.5 trillion from the issuance of Government Securities (SBN) and other Rp94.83 trillion in the form of loans.

The debt does not include interest, which in 2025 will reach IDR 552.85 trillion. In total, Prabowo's due and interest debt in his first year as president is IDR 1,353.1 trillion.

According to the Secretary General of the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency (FITRA), Misbah Hasan, the debt inheritance from Jokowi is more burdensome than the legacy of SBY's debt to Jokowi, especially in the first year of the new government. In fact, Jokowi's debt and interest burden has turned on the yellow light that the government must watch out for.

"Actually, Indonesia's debt and debt interest burdens are already worrying because they have touched 39 percent to 40 percent of GDP. The limit is indeed 60 percent of GDP, but the government must be careful in increasing new debt in the future," he said, Saturday, October 19, 2024.

He emphasized that what needs to be evaluated comprehensively is the effectiveness of the use of debt so far. This is because the use of debt so far has not allegedly had an impact on the welfare of the community or economic growth.

Misbah said that the reduction in poverty at the end of the Jokowi government was only artificial. The reason is, this achievement was obtained thanks to the disbursement of various social assistance. "So, it's just temporary medicine. In fact, almost 23.4 percent of Indonesians are in a high vulnerability position," he said.