BI GOVERNOR'S CANDIDATE VIEWED AS SEASONED MONETARY STRATEGIST

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, March 3 (Antara) - Senior Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia (BI) Perry Warjiyo selected by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) as the sole candidate for the BI governor's post is being viewed as a seasoned strategist in the monetary sector.          Named as the sole candidate for the BI governor's post for the 2018-2013 term of office, Warjiyo is believed to have expertise in monetary affairs and skills in the macro-prudential sector.          "He has adequate technical capabilities and longstanding experience in the issuance of important policies of the BI," House Speaker Bambang Soesatyo had stated in Jakarta on Tuesday (Feb 27).          President Jokowi has nominated Warjiyo for the post of new governor of BI, as he is viewed as a potential candidate for his seniority and experience as the deputy governor of the institution since 2013.          "We have sent it (the candidate's name) to the House of Representatives (DPR), so just ask them. It is only the name of Perry Warjiyo," President Jokowi had noted during a visit to the Delta Silicon Industrial Complex in Cikarang, West Java, on Tuesday (Feb 27).          The letter was submitted by the Presidential Secretariat office to the DPR on February 23, 2018. The president remarked that Warjiyo is competent and has the ability to control any issue and handle challenges that BI must address.

NEW BI GOVERNOR GETS POSITIVE RESPONSE

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, March 28 (Antara) - Economic observers and bankers have given positive response to the election of current Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo as new governor of Bank Indonesia (BI/the central bank).          He is considered to be the ideal figure to lead the central bank and his election is expected to provide positive impact on BI performance and create stimulus to national economy.         "Agus Martowardojo so far has a positive track record in the banking and financial industries. So, he is an ideal figure to lead BI," Rully Nova, financial market analyst of Bank Himpunan Saudara, said.          As a finance minister, Agus with good vision and mission similar to outgoing BI Governor Darmin Nasution, has good understanding on how to make the fiscal and real sectors run well in Indonesia.          "He is a figure who has the good governance capacity which is needed by BI to produce monetary policies for maintaining domestic economic stability," Rully said.          Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo was elected BI new governor by the House of Representatives (DPR)'s Commission XI on financial affairs on Tuesday.          He will take up his new post in May for the 2013-2018 period to replace outgoing BI Governor Darmin Nasution who will end his term on May 22, 2013.

JOKOWI PREDICTED TO WIN JAKARTA GUBERNATORIAL RUNOFF

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Sept 19 (ANTARA) - Two research institutions have predicted that Joko Widodo (paired with Basuki Tjahaja Purnama) will beat rival incumbent Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo (paired with Nachrowi Ramli) by a narrow margin to win the Jakarta gubernatorial runoff on Thursday.          The Jokowi-Ahok pair will contest against Foke-Nara in the second round of the Jakarta gubernatorial elections after winning the first round on July 7.          Jokowi won 43 percent of the votes, falling short of the 51 percent majority needed to conclusively win the Jakarta gubernatorial elections.          In the first round of the polls, there were six pairs of contestants: Fauzi Bowo-Nachrowi Ramli, Hendardji Soepandji-Ahmad Riza Patria, Joko Widodo-Basuki Tjahja Purnama, Hidayat Nur Wahid-Didik J Rachbini, Faisal Basrie-Biem Benjamin and Alex Nurdin-Nono Sumpono.          A former Jakarta deputy governor (during the term of governor Sutiyoso), Fauzi Bowo is the incumbent Jakarta governor who rose to the position after winning the gubernatorial elections five years ago. Jokowi is the incumbent mayor of Solo, Central Java.          Research institutions, PoliticaWave and Indo Barometer, have predicted that the Jokowi-Ahok pair was likely to win the elections runoff 'by a nose'. Their predictions are based on social media monitoring results.          "Based on the results of media monitoring up to September 12, 2012, 54.9 percent people were in favour of the Jokowi-Ahok pair, while the remaining 45.1 percent supported the Foke-Nara pair," said Yose Rizal, the director of PoliticaWave, on Tuesday.         The possible defeat of Foke-Nara was also predicted by survey institute Indo Barometer. "We make the prediction based on the results of a survey by daily Kompas, which was published today," Indo Barometer Director M Qodari said on Thursday  last week.          The results of the survey indicated a slim victory for the Jokowi-Ahok pair over the Foke-Nara pair.          "The victory of Jokowi could be predicted on basis of the contestants' electability, attitude and competence," Qodari explained.          "Regarding electability, the Jokowi-Ahok pair has a higher electability figure of 45.13 percent, compared with that of the Foke-Nara duo, which has 37.53 percent," he added.          Meanwhile, Yose Rizal stated: "The Jokowi-Ahok pair won more positive sentiments with an index of 18.51 percent, while the Foke-Nara partner won more negative sentiments with an index of 11.38 percent."     "We can conclude from this analysis that Jokowi and Ahok will have a slim victory over their competitors Foke and Nara in the Jakarta gubernatorial runoff on Thursday," Yose added.          He said the social media monitoring results also indicated that SARA (sensitive issues of religious, racial, ethnic and group differences) did not influence voters¿ decisions.          Basuki Tjahja Purnama, or Ahok, who is an ethnic Chinese Indonesian, was formerly a district head in Bangka Belitung province, Sumatra. His Chinese and religious backgrounds have not negatively affected his electability.          "Even though certain parties have allegedly raised the SARA issue, we found that it did not affect the sentiments of internet users or net citizens," Yose noted.          "Jakarta voters are becoming increasingly smart and their decision is influenced by corruption and human rights issues rather than SARA issues,¿ he pointed out.          Yose explained that his analysis was based on the monitoring of more than 2 million conversations in various social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, blogs and other forums.          Qodari also based his assessment on social media monitoring.          "I came to this conclusion [that Jokowi would win] after taking into account the vote percentage of both contestants, which was collected in the first round of elections, multiplied by their respective loyal voters. I have also factored in additional voters among the supporters of contestants who failed in the first round. All of it is based on the figures of the Kompas survey," he explained.         "The second aspect is the public assessment of the contestants¿ positive attitude and competence, where the Jokowi-Ahok pair gets higher credit than the Foke-Nara pair. The Jokowi-Ahok pair is more popular in the upper circles of voters, particularly among the upper middle class," Qodari added.         The survey results indicate that only 15 percent of the 'highly educated' voters assessed that the competence level of Foke-Nara was higher than that of Jokowi-Ahok. Some 45 percent felt the Jokowi-Ahok duo was more competent, while 40 percent felt both pairs had the same level of competence.          Among the 'middle-educated' voters, 25 percent considered the competence level of Foke-Nara to be higher than that of their competitors. Some 34 percent felt the Jokowi-Ahok pair was more competent, while 41 percent said both pairs had the same competence levels.         Lastly, 26 percent of 'low-educated' voters felt that Foke-Nara's competence was higher than that of Jokowi-Ahok. Approximately 35 percent considered the Jokowi-Ahok pair to be more competent, while 39 percent voters in the segment felt that both competitors had the same competence levels.          Therefore, Joko is seen as a strong candidate for Jakarta governor.          However, Fauzi enjoys the support of the ruling party and other members of the coalition parties under President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.          Joko is supported only by Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) and the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra).          Ahead of the runoff on Thursday (September 20 ), he was a picture of humility.          "Our target with the supporters, sympathizers, volunteers and parties is to work hard," Joko stated.          He said if he won the elections, he would start his development efforts from Jakarta's slum areas.          Development of Jakarta should not start from the big business centres of Kuningan, Thamrin and Kota. Jakarta's slums will need to be developed into a healthy and environmentally friendly residential area, according to him.         "We will also improve the drainage system and develop townships with green and open public areas. The Jakarta city administration has a large budget. What it needs is determination to turn plans into reality," Joko pointed out.***1*** (T.A014/A/KR-BSR/A/A014) 19-09-2012 17:33:44