VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Jacinda Ardern has put tiny New Zealand on the map in her five years as prime minister, becoming a global icon for left-leaning politics and women in leadership, even as she struggled at home with the economy and COVID-19 restrictions.

The 42-year-old - who gained attention for bringing her baby to a United Nations meeting and wearing a hijab after a massacre targeting Muslims - announced in similarly dramatic fashion on Thursday that she will step down in less than three weeks, saying she had "no more in the tank".

"Be strong, be kind," New Zealand's youngest prime minister in more than a century repeated through her eventful tenure, but her empathetic leadership and crisis management skills often masked her government's shortcomings.

Considered personable and engaging, Ardern turned speaking from the heart and smiling through adversity into a winning formula for surging to power in 2017 and returning with a blowout win in 2020 that ushered in New Zealand's first purely left-leaning government in decades.

Her leadership was marked by unprecedented events for the island nation of 5 million: the 2019 massacre of 51 Muslim worshippers in Christchurch by a white supremacist and the eruption of the White Island volcano, and, the next year, the pandemic.

"I hope I leave New Zealanders with a belief that you can be kind but strong, empathetic but decisive, optimistic but focussed," Ardern said in an emotional resignation announcement. "And that you can be your own kind of leader - one who knows when it’s time to go."

PROBLEMS MOUNT, RATINGS FALL

Ardern received worldwide praise for her response to the Christchurch attacks, which she labelled terrorism. Wearing a headscarf, she met the Muslim community, telling them New Zealand was "united in grief".

She delivered a ban on semiautomatic firearms and other gun curbs within weeks of the massacre, a stark contrast to the United States, where lawmakers and activists have struggled to address gun violence despite regular mass shootings.

Launching a global campaign to end online hate, she has often herself been a target of right-wing extremists online.

Ardern made global headlines in 2020, presiding over New Zealand's most diverse parliament, with more than half the members women and the highest number of indigenous Maori lawmakers.

When COVID arrived, she was among the first leaders to close borders and pursue a zero-tolerance strategy that kept New Zealanders safe from the virus, holding death rates far below those of other advanced nations.

But not everyone was happy with her "go hard, go early" approach, which included a nationwide lockdown over a single infection.

While Ardern's popularity rose internationally, at home she has faced growing political headwinds, struggling to prove that her leadership extended beyond crisis management and kindness.

Her ratings have dropped in recent months on a worsening housing crisis, rising living costs and mortgage rates, and growing concerns about crime. She remains, however, more popular that her rivals.

Despite her promises of transformational leadership, Ardern's affordable housing programmes have been set back by blunders. Even on climate change, which Ardern called "my generation's nuclear-free moment", progress has been incremental.

REFRESHING

Ardern burst onto the global scene in 2017 when she became the world's youngest female head of government at the age of 37.

Riding a wave of "Jacinda-mania," she campaigned passionately for women's rights and an end to child poverty and economic inequality in the country.

Raised a Mormon by her mother and police officer father, Ardern left the church over its stance on LGBTQ people in the early 2000s and has since described herself as agnostic.

Hours after being appointed Labour Party leader, she was asked whether she planned to have children. Ardern said it was "totally unacceptable in 2017 to say that women should have to answer that question in the workplace".

Eight months after becoming premier, she had a baby daughter, becoming only the second elected leader to give birth while in office, after Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto. Less than three months later, Ardern brought the baby, Neve Te Aroha, to the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

Many took her pregnancy and prime minister's maternity leave as symbolising progress for women leaders, part of a wave of progressive female leaders including Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin.

Meeting with Marin in Wellington in November, Ardern shot back at a question whether the two were meeting only because of they were young and female.

“I wonder whether or not anyone ever asked Barack Obama and John Key if they met because they were of similar age,” Ardern said, in reference to the former U.S. president and New Zealand prime minister. "Because two women meet, it’s not simply because of their gender." (Reuters)

People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) deputy speaker Lestari Moerdijat stated that youngsters are the main actors in sustainable development, and the realization of a global vision of an inclusive and equal world becomes their responsibility.

"Youngsters or the younger generation are the main actors in sustainable development. We cannot deny that the global vision of an inclusive and equal world will be the responsibility of the current generation and to be continued by the younger generation," Moerdijat noted at the Denpasar 12 discussion forum titled "Strategic Synergy for Youth Empowerment in 2023" followed online on Wednesday.

Moerdijat affirmed that to carry out the responsibility, the younger generation needs to tackle several complex challenges, such as the current increasingly worsening geopolitical turmoil, the possibility of a worsening economic situation, changes in political governance, and climate change.

In addition, youth empowerment should be optimized, so that they have the ability to face those various challenges.

Nevertheless, she expressed optimism that the younger generation would realize sustainable development, as they have much energy.

She then reminded all parties that youth empowerment could not be separated from the "corridor" of the nation and state life philosophy. She affirmed that the development of youngsters must be based on the values of the state ideology of Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity), and the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).

The MPR deputy speaker also pressed for bolstering synergy among various parties in realizing the youth empowerment strategy.

"Synergy for youth empowerment strategies must be increased to not only encourage Indonesian youngsters in certain sectors but more than that also to open up all possibilities as wide as possible, including opening various channels to support youngsters to gain skills and be able to stand tall in all areas of life," she remarked.  (Antaranews)

Deputy chairperson of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) Shinta Widjaja Kamdani has expressed optimism that Indonesia's economy will continue to grow in 2023 despite a global slowdown.

"We agree with the government and remain optimistic that Indonesia's economy will continue to grow throughout this year even though the global economic climate is not conducive or supports growth in developing countries," she said when contacted here on Wednesday.

Kamdani further said that she did not see external pressures, such as the weakening global economy, causing a crisis or a decline in economic performance, even though they may pose a risk in the form of triggering a decline or slowdown in growth.

Nevertheless, the risk would not be as severe as in G7 countries such as Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US, she added.

"On the contrary, we have a very good chance of being able to maintain the performance of the economic recovery that has occurred since 2021 because our macroeconomic fundamentals are very solid and support stability," she explained.

"This is an important factor in the current condition (the high risk of a global crisis) to support more optimal economic growth in Indonesia," she added.

Indonesia is considered to have an opportunity to grow better compared to last year if the country can maintain and increase conduciveness, maintain the momentum of structural reforms, and improve the efficiency of the national business or investment climate amid the political campaigns this year.

"However, with the presence of those global pressures, we must remain alert and be more active in boosting national economic performance," Kamdani said.

Several efforts need to be made to realize continuous national economic growth, such as improving people’s purchasing power, boosting consumption, and controlling inflation and the exchange rate, she added.

In addition, it is necessary to maximize the growth of investment and the healthy performance of national business actors at various levels so that they continue to grow and are not affected by external pressures from the global economy, which is not in a good condition. (Antaranews)

Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo affirmed that his side is preparing a microtargeting strategy to overcome various problems of poverty and stunting whose prevalence and figures remain high in the province.

"We follow up on President Joko Widodo's directive by creating a program to tackle poverty and stunting with the microtargeting (strategy)," Pranowo stated here on Wednesday.

He explained that the new strategy in dealing with poverty and stunting will involve village and sub-districts heads in all regions across Central Java.

"That way, (information on the targeted population) can be in detail, such as who is poor, where are them, how many are there, and what kind of intervention (is needed). When the (intervention) is ready, the handling must be done collaboratively," he remarked.

At the “2023 National Coordination Meeting of Regional Heads and the Regional Leadership Communication Forum” in Sentul, West Java, on Tuesday (January 17), the president has emphasized the need for regions to reduce stunting cases and poverty rates.

So far, Pranowo highlighted that the programs to reduce the poor population and stunted children prevalence had been running well in Central Java, but the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an increase in poverty in some regions in the province.

"We are on standby, (Insya Allah) God willing, starting this week, we will do a 'roadshow' (visit) to several regions and assign village heads to record data of (targeted population) in detail," he explained.

In addition, he urged sub-district heads to coordinate with the related parties and each district head will be responsible in their respective areas.

The Central Java governor also highlighted the president's message that investment must be facilitated, including the use of the regional budget and the state budget to provide stimulus for economic growth, help reduce unemployment, and alleviate poverty.

"Hopefully, after the briefing, we will all be more solid and ready to face 2023 with more certainty, more measured with a clearer target," he stated. (antaranews)