Most Indonesians dissatisfied with administration's COVID-19 response, survey finds
by Ghina GhaliyaA public opinion poll conducted by Jakarta-based pollster Indo Barometer has found that most of the respondents are dissatisfied with the way President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration is handling the COVID-19 outbreak.
Conducted from May 12 to 18 and involving 400 participants across seven provinces – West Java, Central Java, East Java, Jakarta, Banten, North Sumatra and South Sulawesi – the survey found that 53.8 percent of the respondents said they were dissatisfied with the central government’s response to the public health emergency.
In contrast, 57.3 percent of respondents were satisfied with their respective regional administrations.
“Compared to the central government, public satisfaction with regional administrations is higher," Indo Barometer said in the survey report.
The survey found that most of the respondents took issue with the central government’s inconsistent policies and slow distribution of social aid.
The respondents also felt that the regional administration had been more responsive than the central administration and had better virus-handling measures.
Indo Barometer said Jokowi should take the grievances of the respondents into consideration when devising policies in tackling the COVID-19 outbreak.
"Two major problems regard social assistance distribution and inconsistent policies. This must be resolved,” the pollster said.
According to the government count, Indonesia has 23,165 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 1,418 deaths as of Tuesday.
If you want to help in the fight against COVID-19, we have compiled an up-to-date list of community initiatives designed to aid medical workers and low-income people in this article. Link: [UPDATED] Anti-COVID-19 initiatives: Helping Indonesia fight the outbreak