Jokowi Should Give Attention To Issues Of Income Gap

Jakarta, Sept 1 (Antara) - President-elect Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Vice President-elect Jusuf Kalla (JK) have not given attention to issues of economic inequality and income gaps among the people, said the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI). Executive Director of LSI Kuskridho Ambardi noted on Monday, "The Jokowi-JK duo promised to implement an adequate number of polices covering various issues ranging from poverty elimination, economic competitive advantages and social insurance during the presidential campaigns. But the presidential ticket has failed to give attention to the issues relating to the economic and income gaps of the people." He said that the issues needed attention so that any potential for the emergence of social unrest could be reduced and the continuation of development could be guaranteed. "Indonesia`s political history shows that these gaps could trigger social conflicts such as what was called the `Malari 1974` unrest (the January 1974 unrest). Apart from that, the continuation of development can be guaranteed if the gap between the rich and the poor can be narrowed," he remarked. Kuskridho revealed the results of the LSI survey of 3,080 respondents aged 17 years and older, conducted from May 27 to June 4, 2014. With a margin of error of +-1.89 percent and a trust of 95 percent, the majority of the respondents said that the Indonesian people have uneven income. Some 0.5 percent said Indonesians have very even income; 6.6 percent were of the view that they have relatively even income; 51.6 percent said their income was less even; 40.1 percent said the people have uneven income; and 1.4 percent did not vote or said they did not know. "So it is important for the government to give attention to the income gap because, it seems, the Jokowi-JK pair paid less attention to it during the presidential campaign period," he added.