Governor’s office essential to bridge central government, says Jokowi

Jakarta, The Gulf Observer: The office of governor in provinces remains essential to bridge the central government’s span of control to mayors and district heads, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stated.

The president’s remarks were made in response to House of Representatives (DPR RI) Deputy Speaker Muhaimin Iskandar’s proposal for the abolition of the governor’s office in the next regional election.

“We need to calculate either (if without the governor’s office) will (it) make us more efficient, or it will instead cause the span of control, for instance, (from the central government) to mayors and district heads to be too far. We also need to assess its span of control,” he stated on the sidelines of his visit to Baturiti Market in Tabanan, Bali, Thursday.

Jokowi said that as Indonesia is a democratic country, everyone has the right to express his or her opinion regarding the government’s administration.

However, all suggestions and proposals must be properly assessed before they could be followed up, he emphasized.

“Everything needs an in-depth assessment. Regarding the proposal, Indonesia is a democratic country, and it is not wrong to do so. Still, everything must be assessed and needs proper calculation,” the president remarked.

Earlier, Iskandar stated that his political party, National Awakening Party (PKB), is considering the proposal to abolish the office of provincial governors for the sake of bureaucratic efficiency.

The deputy speaker asserted that the governor is merely the extension of the arms of the central government that must implement the latter’s policy. He also opined that the office is not effective and absorbs a significant chunk of the budget that could be used for the development of human resources.

Iskandar advocated instead for the appointment of a director general-level officer under a government ministry to replace the governor’s office.