Gibran Responds to Celios Report: Criticism Should Be Answered with Performance

Jakarta (ANTARA) — Vice-President Gibran Rakabuming Raka said he would use criticism in a two-year assessment of the Prabowo-Gibran administration published by the Center of Economic and Law Studies (Celios) to help evaluate and improve the government’s performance.

In a statement received in Jakarta on Tuesday, Gibran said he valued all surveys, studies and criticism from the public and independent organisations.

“To me, all of these are part of democracy as well as material for the government’s evaluation, so that it can continue to improve,” Gibran said.

He said criticism of the government and of himself, including that made in the Celios report, should be followed up with an evaluation and policy improvements.

Gibran said the government’s working practices also needed to improve so that people could feel the benefits of its policies more clearly.

“This can be done through evaluation and improvements to policies and working practices, to ensure that the government’s presence is increasingly felt by the public and that it addresses problems on the ground,” he said.

Celios and the Shadow Cabinet released their assessment of the two-year administration of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice-President Gibran Rakabuming Raka on Sunday (11 October).

At the report’s launch, Celios Executive Director Bhima Yudhistira said 75 per cent of 1,122 respondents reported feeling stressed because of government policies.

Bhima said respondents’ main concerns included rising prices of basic necessities, difficulties finding work and law enforcement.

The survey covered 1,142 members of the general public and 129 experts from provinces across Indonesia.

Overall, the survey gave Prabowo a performance rating of 4.6 out of 10 among the general public and 2.8 out of 10 among experts.

Gibran received ratings of 4.9 from the general public and 2.2 from experts.