Jokowi Expected To Improve Indonesia's Competitiveness

Yogyakarta, July 24 (Antara) - The newly elected President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla are expected to improve Indonesia`s competitiveness at the international level, stated Achmad Nurmandi, a political observer from the Yogyakarta Muhammadiyah University. "Jokowi and Kalla should do so by enhancing the economy and active foreign policy of Indonesia as the world`s most populous Muslim nation," Nurmandi noted here on Wednesday. According to Nurmandi, Jokowi and Kalla are also expected to ensure that the central and regional government organizations can implement the policies that have been set. The director of Jusuf Kalla School of Government (JKSG) at the Yogyakarta Muhammadiyah University remarked that empirically, institutional revolution to create a strong and effective government needs to happen at the central and regional government levels. At the central government level, Nurmandi pointed out that the control of political parties on the ministries brings its own challenges for Jokowi. "As we have learnt from the present cabinet, the behavior of politicians from political parties in the ministries they control makes it difficult to create an effective government," he noted. Therefore, Nurmandi emphasized that Jokowi`s acumen in choosing his cabinet ministers will determine the success of his government for the next five years.