Yogyakarta, December 2nd 2021─The Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIPOL) of Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) held the inaugural FISIPOL Leadership Forum: Road to 2024. On this occasion FISIPOL invited the Governor of West Java, Ridwan Kamil, and a lecturer of FISIPOL UGM, Mada Sukmajati, as speakers.
The event was opened by the Dean of FISIPOL UGM, Wawan Mas’udi, who explained that the idea of the FISIPOL Leadership Forum event was political leadership in Indonesia which came from many sources of leadership due to the democratic and decentralized system.
“This forum that we have designed will facilitate as many potential future leaders in Indonesia as possible for a much stronger level in the future,” the Dean said.
The forum, which was held online and offline, was guided by a lecturer of FISIPOL UGM, Wahyu Kustiningsih. There are five discussion segments and six topics of discussion regarding the performance of the West Java Provincial Government. First, the discussion was about economic development, the health crisis, and the handling of COVID-19. Second, the forum discussed the cooperation carried out by the West Java Provincial Government. The Governor of West Java explained that in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, the West Java Provincial Government carried out five principles, namely being proactive, transparent, scientific, innovative, and collaborative.
“This collaboration is the strength of West Java, a penta helix collaboration consisting of academia, business, community, government, and media,” said the governor who is familiarly called Kang Emil.
The third topic was about the achievements of the Governor and the West Java Provincial Government. Fourth, the forum discussed the public communication implemented by the Governor of West Java. According to Kang Emil, there are two leadership values, namely personality and transformational power. He tried to balance the two values.
“The problem is today’s democracy does not choose smart people, but people who are liked, so people are competing to be liked,” Emil said.
Mada explained that the leadership model that has developed in several regional heads in Indonesia is the developmentalism model. That is, leaders do a lot of real work rather than a lot of rhetoric. Although it is undeniable, there are leaders who run the populism model, which is considered positive or negative by a number of experts.
“I’m afraid that the populist leader will only focus on popularity, and pursue a pragmatic and short-term program,” Mada said.
Fifth, the forum discussed multiculturalism in West Java. Lastly, they discussed Indonesia in 2024. When asked about tolerance in West Java, Emil explained that his party was trying to eradicate intolerance and train its citizens to be tolerant. He also highlighted the condition of Indonesian netizens who were considered impolite by a survey.
“I am careful, because they are not used to asking constructive questions at school, they are not used to arguing with their lecturers because they are considered disrespectful, finally meeting on social media, so the comments are rude,” Emil explained.
“Be optimistic about the future of our nation,” Emil said. He invited the community to unite and not be divided in unnecessary fights. He also encouraged young people to study the green economy and new sciences so that Indonesia can become a competitive and productive nation in the future.
This forum was attended by around 70 people through the Zoom Meeting virtual room, and witnessed by more than 400 audiences on the FISIPOL UGM YouTube channel. Offline, the forum was held at the FISIPOL Auditorium and was attended by several deans and lecturers of FISIPOLl, as well as a number of Heads of Service from West Java. The video recording of this forum can still be watched on the FISIPOL UGM YouTube channel at the following link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TycW9SI2Bz4 ).