A Clean Slate: Our Hopes For The Next Five Years

After months of chaos-filled election stages, as well as fending off some ignorant, hard lined groups that claimed to be the voice of the Islamic society, Mr. Joko Widodo (known as Jokowi) and Mr. K. H. Ma'ruf Amin are now officially the President and Vice President of The Republic of Indonesia. The sworn-in ceremony was held on Sunday Afternoon. This is President Jokowi's second term in office, while Vice President Amin is the first VP with the background as an Islamic cleric. They were victorious during the General Election; with Jokowi-Amin amassed 55% of the votes, while their opponents, Gerindra-backed Prabowo Subianto & Sandiaga Uno only got 45%. This was their second battle in the Presidential Election, with the first being the 2014 Election, where President Jokowi was first elected president in 2014 with his vice being Mr. Jusuf Kala, at that time served his second term as VP, previously served with Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. According to the Indonesian Election Law, after his second term ended, President Jokowi is outlawed to participate again in the 2024 Elections. The trend of pairing an Islamic cleric with the running candidate to victory wasn't happen for the first time, Current Governor of West Java Ridwan Kamil chose Uu Ruzhanul Ulum as his running mate for the Election last year and came out victorious. 

During his first term in office, President Jokowi is known as the "father of infrastructures", as most of the infrastructures (toll roads, electric powerline supplies, etc) are either being built or already completed under his presidency. He is also known to be the man of the people. He constantly visits every corner of the country for the people's aspiration or just to monitor the progress of the regencies he visits at that given time. This habit has been going ever since he was the mayor of Surakarta, Central Java. Before the precidency, Jokowi was the Governor of Special Capital Region of Jakarta (Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta, DKI Jakarta in Indonesian) with Chinese-Indonesian politician Basuki Tjahya Purnama (known as Ahok). Ahok subsequently succeeded him as the Governor of Jakarta, appointing Djarot Saiful Hidayat as his Vice Governor. Ma'ruf Amin on the other hand is a well-known and respected cleric among the Islamic Society. He is the former General Chairman of the Nahdathul Ulama Organization, the biggest Islamic Organization in Indonesia. He is also the head of the Indonesian Council of Ulama (MUI). As of today, He is the first vice president from the Islamic society. Most of the VPs before Vice President Amin is either a politician or someone with a military background (Habibie is one exception. He was an aerospace engineer prior to be VP).

This duo of Jokowi and Amin are expected to be in the top positions of the Indonesian Government for 5 years, meaning the presidency lasts until 2024. During those five years, they have to tackle many issues circulating among the people. First of those issues is hoaxes and false information surrounding the social media. With the president constantly visiting regions of Indonesia, there is news that is being generated upon that region. Many can be trusted, but there are also some false and untrusted information generated by irresponsible individuals. Hate speech is quite rampant during Jokowi's first term. There are also countless hate speeches being posted on many social media platforms that targets Jokowi and marks him as the tyrant, authoritarian and merciless leader.  Corruption is also a prominent issue in Indonesia. The fact that most of the convicts are receiving less than 5 years of prison time is worrying. There is also a long-running conspiracy that the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is being filled with people that has sketchy track records and prone to misuse their duties. But among many issues circulating today, probably the biggest issue at hand is the rise of Radical Islam. It is a well-known fact that Indonesia aside from being the 4th biggest country in terms of population is also the largest Muslim populated country in the world. Despite these facts, Indonesia is employing a democratic presidential system. This phenomenon is happening due to the rise of ISIS in the Middle Eastern countries. The common issue at hand is the rise of the radical Islamists allegedly affiliating with ISIS. With the disbandment of Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), the movement to possibly overthrow the president and to replace the Pancasila ideology with the Islamic Sharia Law is only growing bigger and more coordinated. But fortunately, the Indonesian Police Force is currently working day and night to eradicate these movements.

As one of approximately 249 milion citizens of the Indonesian Archipelago, I send my aspiration for President Jokowi and Vice President Amin as well as praying for good health, good leadership and equality among Indonesians and also the best of luck for the presidential duo taking their places in office. There are countless other issues aside from the four mentioned above, but I have the faith and confidence in President Jokowi and Vice President Amin to manage those issues and upheld justice and truth above all else. Let bygones be bygones, let's not talk about the past anymore, and more importantly, let's hold our hands with the president and help him with the best of our abilities. The future is upon us; so let's take a step further towards a bright and prosperous Indonesia.