President Jokowi’s 9 priorities for Indonesia – Wali Zahid

Guest Post by Dr Leila Mona Ganiem, Jakarta

Indonesia, the world’s fourth-most populous country, held its election on 9 July 2014. In this democratic contest, around 190 million Indonesians went to the polls to elect a new president. There were two candidate-panels, Prabowo-Hatta versus Jokowi-Jusuf Kalla.

The election commission yesterday declared that Jokowi had won the poll with almost 71 million votes or just over 53%. The former military general Prabowo Subianto received 62.5 million votes or 46.8%.

Markets reacted positively to indications that Jokowi was the likely winner. Foreign investors appear to like the quick-count of results as positive.

Jokowi will face challenges governing a country with plenty of complicated problems ahead.

What will they do?

The Jokowi-Kalla duon have declared NAWACITA. It is a sanksrit term for nine priorities.

Their nine-point priorities are:

First. Returning the state to its task of protecting all citizens and providing a safe environment

This means that they will:

• protect migrant workers


• Protect maritime interests, particularly concerning borders and natural resources


• Increase the military budget to 1.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) within five years


• Build professional police

Second. Developing clean, effective, trusted and democratic governance

• Require all government institutions to produce performance reports


• Open access to public information and public participation


• Reform the bureaucracy


• Improve public services


• Increase women’s role and their participation

Third. Developing Indonesia’s rural areas

• Push regional administrations to cut their overhead costs and allocate more for public services


• Improve public services in villages, subdistricts and districts


• Implementation of village law


• Structuring of new autonomous regions for the welfare of the people

Fourth. Reforming law enforcement agencies

• Prioritise reform of the judiciary


• Resolve historic human rights violations


• Strengthen corruption eradication commission


• Eradicate judicial mafia


• Build a culture of law


• Combating drugs and psychotropic

Fifth. Improve quality of life

• Increase educational and training quality through the “Indonesia Pintar” (Smart Indonesia) program with 12 years of compulsory and free education


• Increase public health services through “Indonesia Sehat” (Healthy Indonesia) card program


• Push the implementation of land reforms


• Provide ownership program for 9 hectares of land


• Develop more villages of row houses

Sixth. Increasing productivity and competitiveness

• Construct 2,000 kilometers of roads


• Develop 10 new airports and 10 seaports


• Construct 10 industrial estates along with housing for workers


• Build 5,000 traditional markets


• Provide one-stop services for the processing of investments and business licenses with completion target of 15 days


• Set up development and infrastructure bank


• Build regional science and techno parks, academies and vocational schools

Seventh. Promoting economic independence by developing domestic strategic sectors

• Expand the irrigation network to cover 3 million hectares of rice fields


• Open 1 million hectares of rice paddies outside Java


• Build a bank for farmers and small businesses


• End the conversion of agricultural land


• Cut energy imports by promoting exploration at home


• Construct more gas pipelines


• Prioritise the use of coal and gas to fuel electricity


• Achieve a financial inclusion ratio target of 50 percent


• Target a tax ratio of 16 percent


• Restrict the sale of national banks to foreign investors


• Increase research in agriculture and industry

Eighth. Overhauling the character of the nation

• Reorganise the educational system by prioritising the inclusion of civic education, history, character-building and patriotism


• Evaluate national exams


• For elementary education, 70 percent of the teaching must focus on building attitude and character


• For higher education, 40 percent of teaching must focus on science, and 60 percent on applied knowledge


• Provide subsidies to state universities


• Provide financing for research and technology development

Ninth. Strengthening the spirit of “unity in diversity” and social reform

• Promote tolerance


• Enforce the law to improve people’s spirits


• Re-establish mutual cooperation as social capital through social reconstruction


• Social restoration to restore the spirit of harmony among citizens


• Strengthen diversity education and create spaces of dialogue between citizens

Dr Leila Mona Ganiem lives in Jakarta. A PhD in communications, Mona has a special liking for Pakistan and had the distinction of interviewing Benazir Bhutto when she was Prime Minister of Pakistan during 1993-96. Among other things, she is a university lecturer and Country Manager of Skill City Indonesia. She is Member of Indonesian Medical Council for 2014-2019.

Update: This piece has been quoted in a journal article titled, ‘Jokowi’s Private Sector Policies and the Future of the Indonesian Economy’ in Georgetown Journal of International Affairs published by Georgetown University USA. The author is Dr Russell Toth, a lecturer at the University of Sydney and a PhD from Cornell University, USA.

See also:

President Jokowi is the man to watch in Indonesia

Indonesia: warning signs the growth story may be losing steam

What is reshaping the world while we are unaware?

What China signalled through OBOR Forum

China’s world-reshaping One Belt, One Road (OBOR)

CPEC fact sheet: 2013-2017

The world in 2100

How China overtakes the US economy

Pakistan at $300B is world’s 40th largest economy

Back to the future: Pakistan in 2050

Futurist, analyst, curator, Pakistan2050, business leadership, social media, C-Level coach, reformer, blogger, ceo Skill City

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