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Politics

佐科的天才

Oct 6, 2021 Kishore Mahbubani

雅加达—好事不出门，恶事传千里。当阿富汗政府不久前倒台时，吸引了全世界的注意力。但当印度尼西亚这个全世界人口最多的穆斯林多数国家今天选出当今世界最高效的民选领导人佐科·维多多（人称佐科）时，印尼群岛以外却几乎无人知晓这件事。

佐科在全世界最难治理的国家取得了成功导致这个故事更加令人瞩目。印尼包括 17，508座小岛，从东到西绵延5，125公里（3，185英里），宽度超过美国大陆。此外，鲜有大国的民族多样性可以和印尼相比。当1998年亚洲金融危机导致印尼经济萎缩13.1%时，许多专家预测该国将像南斯拉夫一样分崩离析。

在这样的背景下，对佐科的执政评价远不止胜任而已。他制定了理应成为其他民主大国羡慕对象的全新治理标准。

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0 Comments on this paragraph, 20 Comments on this article

BEN L. Oct 20, 2021

Is Kishore running out of diplomatic tactfulness and patience? Still, he must be admired for the courage to call Trump and Boris Johnson what they really are.
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Duncan Graham Oct 10, 2021

This reads more like a paid PR piece for the Indonesian government rather than an objective academic assessment.

To baldly call Widodo ‘the world’s most effective democratically elected leader today’ without underpinning the assertion with facts is an undergraduate line. How does the author measure ‘effectiveness’? How about NZ, Norway, Iceland, Denmark – all full democracies?

The Economist Intelligence Unit calls Indonesia a ‘flawed democracy’ and ranks it 64th.
Of the 17,508 islands, only a third are occupied. The ‘ethnic diversity’ is made up of people who were born in the country, as were their ancestors. Indonesia does not welcome immigrants.

Widodo has presided over some stability, but has not ‘governed competently’. His belayed response to the Covid pandemic and flip-flopping on policy responses has led to the deaths of thousands. His orders are frequently ignored, suggesting disrespect by his peers. The conflict in West Papua shows no sign of resolution.

If he has ‘bridged the political divide’ it’s by getting minor parties to join his camp by offering goodies, effectively destroying the opposition essential for a healthy society to function.

Biden asking Trump to serve in his Cabinet might help heal the Republican-Democrat divide, but it would betray the millions who voted not to have the 45th president return. That’s what Widodo has done by embracing his bitter opponents and giving them a platform.

The President has helped the poor, though ten per cent remain below the ADB poverty line. His focus has been on infrastructure, and here he has done a reasonable job with Chinese loans and labour. The roads have been rapidly built, but the tolls are so high many motorists refuse to use.

He has become part of the oligarchy and close to the military. His indifference to the undermining of the Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (Corruption Eradication Commission) – once the most trusted of agencies - is seriously worrying NGOs who originally backed Widodo when he promised to fight graft. He's becoming intolerant of criticism.

Ranking 73rd on the World Bank’s Doing Business index and hovering in much the same place is a matter of shame. It proves the curse of corruption and excessive red tape continues to damage the Republic. Widodo is no Lee Kwan Yew, who might deserve the term 'genius'.

Promoting Pancasila helps mute extremists, but the philosophy belongs to Soekarno.

The Kartu Indonesia Sehat health card is a great idea, but mishandled. Unlike other schemes funded through taxation, participants – other than the seriously poor – have to pay monthly. As expected hospital and doctors’ fees have risen – so premiums are also increasing, forcing many off the scheme.

Widodo has been in power since 2014, enough time to make major improvements. He’s a plodder with a narrow focus. He’s done better than his predecessors, though only because they did so little.

I'm glad he's President and not his rival Prabowo. Overall, Widodo comes across as benign and his soft Javanese personality is easy to like. But his performance deserves analysis, not a hagiography.
- Bambang Palani Nov 23, 2021
  
  Surely it's obvious from the article that he's talking of "large democracies". The perfect, "full" democracies are only possible in real life for small, developed nations like you mentioned which did not experience any major conflicts in the last 50 years. Putting a verdict on Indonesia which has gone through a lot in the last 50 years as a "flawed"/"poor"/"pathetic" democracy is laughable at the very best. Who cares whether a democracy is flawed or not? No countries in Asia want to emulate the "perfect" liberal democracy of the West. If you can't see the flaws in a perfect Western democracy than I'd say you are blind, with all the things that are happening in the news. That's the reason people in the West are mostly pessimistic about their future.
  
  Indonesia's pandemic is almost over, with no significant real cases detected even though the populace has already abandoned the Covid protocols and live like in pre-pandemic life. Look around and see which country has done better right now?
  
  So the conflict in West Papua shows no progress, but if you suggest that "perfect" democracies like NZ, Norway, Iceland, Denmark can do better than you are beyond delusional. Those countries have no experience in dealing with issues of scale that Indonesia faces.
  
  "Biden asking Trump to serve in his Cabinet might help heal the Republican-Democrat divide..."
  You are being delusional here. What Widodo did cannot be emulated by Biden or any current American politicians. In fact it has never been heard of before. As was obvious in Ahok case or Gus Dur case, the opposition can wield such a great power to render incumbent government powerless.
  
  KPK were no less powerful than it was during SBY admin, the criticism as though JKW weakened them are a bit misplaced because it was SBY who deemed KPK to be too powerful without proper checks and balances, and that's mainly because many of Partai Demokrat's political apparatus were caught in graft cases themselves, but you can't say the same about JKW/PDIP.
  
  Being genial with China does bring a lot of disagreeable perspective from the West, but China is a far more reliable economic development partner than the West despite all the hiccups, Jokowi made the correct decision for Indonesia's future.
  
  No, I'm not his fan either and have never voted in a general election, but I think he's a lot better than most world's democratic leaders given the same challenges and problems.
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- Mathilda Silalahi Nov 14, 2021
  
  With all due respect, Sir, I totally agree on Sukarno's legacy as I am a big fan of him myself. But on conflict in West Papua, it has been going on since Suharto took the office due to the conflict of interest between him and the US regarding Freeport that led Sukarno to be kicked out and die in which I believed it was "premeditated".
  
  On the other hand, NZ, Ireland and Denmark, they are not as big and diverse as my country. You do not have any idea how complicated it is to tackle the native ethnic groups and traditional tribes who are still engaged with their old traditions and rules
  
  To be honest, I am not really into Mr. Widodo, but I can see him thru my fair perspective that he is the best after Mr. Sukarno. After all, nobody is perfect, Sir.
  
  Many of my fellow Indonesians do not respect him either because actually they have already been sick and tired of being lied to, not to mention the intervention of IMF and US government.
  
  What the best things that Mr. Widodo has are keeping the peace and fighting the poverty. Those are the best that The US does not have. Our homeless people here are not as high as those in Seattle and in other states in the US.
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Joe Samuel Oct 9, 2021

It was an interesting article and I was going to share it till the last paragraph. Please do explain how Trump and Boris where were con-man? Have they stole any money from the governments coffers?
- BEN L. Oct 20, 2021
  
  OK. Let's use demagogue: a political leader who seeks support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational argument. A gifted demagogue with particular skill in manipulating the press.
  - Joe Samuel Oct 20, 2021
    
    You have just given a description of every political leader in the history of the world in modern day democracies. Good try.
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Lachman Naraindas Oct 9, 2021

I like Kishore Mahbubani's writings.This may have been a slip of the "nib".So I needed to alert him
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Lachman Naraindas Oct 8, 2021

I quote his article "are electing con men like Biden's predecessor Donald Trump,and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson"..
- P. Kamath Oct 8, 2021
  
  You are right🤗! I don’t understand how I missed it during my breakfast reading! I can understand exPOTUS Trump - King of Con’s but Boris? Hard to believe. Anyway time to move on!
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Lachman Naraindas Oct 8, 2021

Trump and Boris Johnson con-men? Trump OK I can understand but Boris a Con man?Need to be more tactful Mr.Mahbubani.
- P. Kamath Oct 8, 2021
  
  NARAINDAS: where does the author Mahbubani say Boris is a con man?
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Phillip Wamala Oct 7, 2021

An impressive profile of President Joko Widodo but your parameters for comparing national leadership are grossly lacking, especially in the definition of leadership in current times and the last 10 years.

Society, over the last 20 years, has grown more global and complex and so are the leaders and leaderships that have emerged in that period. So, your continuous comparison of Indonesia and the rich democracies was naive and simplistic. Trump and Boris Johnson rose out of circumstances left behind by their predecessors.

Back to President Widodo's profile in your article, while you talked about inequality, cohesion, covid-19 and infrastructure, you did not talk about his policies in the areas of nature conservation, climate, food security, environment, 4th industrial revolution, natural disaster preparedness, bio security, innovation, disinformation, humanitarianism, and multilateralism. Yet these are also key parameters that define a leader of modern times - a leader of the global era. For example, what are his policies on the conservation of Orangutans?

My daily interaction with Indonesia is with Bali - a fantastic tourism destination. I expected you to talk about his tourism and tourism recovery policies.

So, while his achievements you mentioned are great, letting the world know about his policies in the areas I've mentioned above would give him the "wider acclaim and appreciation" if handled well - because those areas are very critical in the current world both domestically and internationally.
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Rafi Nabeel Oct 7, 2021

electing of con man like Asharf Ghani worth mentioning. His book " Fixing Failed States" has misled our nation and our development partners.
- Rafi Nabeel Oct 7, 2021
  
  Kamath: True. But I think Mr. MAHBUBANI’s argument is that con men shouldn’t be elected. He does not differentiate between poor and rich countries.
  - P. Kamath Oct 7, 2021
    
    Rich or poor country, who cares! Con men, corrupt, populists, extremists, liars - — doesn’t matter. They are all the same- just scoundrels and deserve to be thrown out.
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- P. Kamath Oct 7, 2021
  
  Ravi: Mahbubani was referring to rich nations electing con men ! and not undemocratic undeveloped nations like Afghanistan!😊
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Ariel Agor Oct 6, 2021

Key take away: UNITY IN DIVERSITY
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P. Kamath Oct 6, 2021

Having read many of his colomns and book or two in the past two decades or so, I certainly would extend a hearty round of applause to Kishore Mahabubani who has all the good credentials to make his comments: - born as a son of refugees, studying in the East then , working in the West and East, in academia, and as a diplomat of City state of Singapore where one needs to be very cautious with words in private or diplomatic domain, He has chosen his ‘Maha’ words with great care. Very good indeed!
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佐科的天才

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