REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL GEOGRAPHICAL EDUCATION

ISSN: 2146-0353 ● © RIGEO ● 11(5), SPRING, 2021

www.rigeo.org Research Article

Government Performance Accountability:

New Media opinions and a brief review of
Policy Implementation in Indonesia
regarding the COVID-19 pandemic in the
last two years
Achmad Supandi1 Soesilo Zauhar2
Department of Public Administration, Brawijaya Department of Public Administration, Brawijaya
University, Indonesia University, Indonesia
supandimmsi@gmail.com soesilozfia@ub.ac.id
Endah Setyowati3 Hermawan4
Department of Public Administration, Brawijaya Department of Public Administration, Brawijaya
University, Indonesia University, Indonesia
endah71@gmail.com masherma_one@yahoo.com

Abstract
This study focuses on the Analysis of Implementation of Government Performance Accountability (GPA)
System policy implementation during the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia dealing with the COVID-19
pandemic, for example regarding the implementation of policies that have been carried out based on
government opinions and solutions in Indonesia. This research was conducted by observing by collecting
articles from well-known media and some previous studies were then concluded to be given a review so
that the recommendations given could be implemented as an increase in government performance
accountability in a country as a policy solution for handling COVID-19 in Indonesia. Based on result that
Policy implementation of GPA in Indonesia dealing with the covid-19 it's good enough even though there
are still criticisms and conflicts in handling this, this is a gap for optimizing the improvement of handling
covid-19 in Indonesia. What is interesting in this study is how the government's policy in handling Covid-19
is seen from the accountability side. The results of this analysis are expected to be lessons and
recommendations can be replicated in other parts of the world with tropical climates such as Indonesia.

Keywords
Performance accountability (GPA), Gap Analysis, Government Policy Implementation, Pandemic
Covid-19.

To cite this article: Supandi, A.; Zauhar, S.; Setyowati, E and Hermawan, E. (2021) Government Performance
Accountability: New Media opinions and a brief review of Policy Implementation in Indonesia regarding the COVID-19
pandemic in the last two years. Review of International Geographical Education (RIGEO), 11(5), 3011-3018. doi:
10.48047/rigeo.11.05.193

Submitted: 15-10-2020 ● Revised: 20-12-2020 ● Accepted: 22-02-2021

 © RIGEO ● Review of International Geographical Education 11(5), SPRING, 2021
Introduction
Several theories about how to measure GPA one of which is accountability theory from reinventing
government proposed by (David, 1993; Holzer & Callahan, 1993). The concept of accountability is
the obligation to fulfill responsibilities and ensure the realization of public values. The level of
accountability has also developed from being personal/individual, to groups, organizations,
stakeholders and even a country. The results of the study (Supandi, Zauhar, & Endah Setyowati, 2020)
explain that GPA can be effective including the existence of government commitment and
effective communication between the central government and local governments. Accountability,
according to the author can be seen from the political and internal aspects of the organization. in
this study will describe and analyze accountability from the political aspect which is now related to
the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of COVID-19 that hit the world especially in Indonesia has had
a profound impact on economic development and the world of education. Some of these studies
have collected and observed from news in new media such as CNN, CNBC websites, and other
media and also from scholar result as literature reviews on government performance accountability
in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Wikipedia, New media is a communication
medium that uses the internet and digital technology or computers as a means of operation. New
media emerged after conventional communication media were sufficiently used by the public in
the form of communication technology, especially digital technology or computers and the
internet. Blogs, social media, and websites are examples of applications that are included in new
communication media or new media. Based on the growing opinion, COVID-19 is a health issue in
Wuhan, China. Then it developed into a social, economic and political issue on a global pandemic
scale around the world. In the COVID-19 pandemic situation, of course, the implementation of a
country's policy in providing solutions to this problem cannot be separated from the accountability
of the government's performance, the things that are reported to the public are the number of
people exposed, how many people recovered and how many people died as a parameter of
government performance accountability. In public accountability, a country must be able to make
the right and right choices when there is a conflict. Several policies issued by governments in
Indonesia are related to closing schools, and crowding activities in both the industrial and economic
sectors. One of Several conflicts occurred in Indonesia in carrying out policies to overcome the
COVID-19 pandemic was the establishment of a quarantine law as higher regulations but the
regulations used as the basis for authority are new policies in the form of government regulations so
that it had an impact on the consequences of a country's obligations. That's why the GPA for
handling covid-19 will be very interesting to study in Indonesia.

Methodology
Research Design

This research method uses a qualitative approach based on observations and reviews of new
media in the last 2 years, while data processing uses spiral Creswell analysis and uses NVIVO 12
software.The scope of this research is limited to Indonesian countries as developing countries to
developed countries.

Figure 1. Spiral model data analysis

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Source: Creswell and Creswell (2017)

Based on Figure 1. above, it is explained that to analyze qualitative data, the researcher moves
in a circle of analysis rather than using a fixed linear approach. An analyst enters with text or image
data (e.g., photos, video recordings) and exits with a report or narrative. During spiral analysis, the
researcher intersects with several channels of analysis and continues to rotate. The procedure of
this step is the first to organize the data, the second to read and create memos, the third, to
describe, classify and interpret into codes and themes, the fourth to present and visualize the
data. This spiral analysis is very flexible because it can compress or expand.In writing this paper,
the author focuses on the first research, namely Implementation of the Health for handling COVID-
19, the second is Implementation of science study for handling COVID-19. The third is the
Implementation of Economic, Industrial and Development Policies for handling COVID-19 and the
fourth is the GPA policy implementation for Education policy. The locus of this research is limited
in Indonesia.

Results and Discussion

Based on CNBC Indonesia in July 2021, that countries in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia has
experienced a series of increasing cases of Covid-19 in recent times. This country also began to set
strategies to cope with the high number of this virus infection.

Figure 1. Implementation of the GPA Policy for Handling Covid-19 in Indonesia

(Sources: Author 2021)

Alizar and Usman (2020) explained that for Indonesia, the government has made a social distancing
policy called PSBB (Large-Scale Social Restrictions). This PSBB was made based on PP No. 21/2020
which was signed by President Joko Widodo on March 31, 2020. PSBB is an approach contained in
Law no. 6/2018 concerning Health Quarantine. Technically, this PSBB is regulated in Permenkes No.
9/2020 and Permenhub No. 18/2020.
Mujani (2020) revealed that the accountability of public assessment of the performance of the
Indonesian government is not bad because the people understand that health problems cannot
be separated from economic problems. According to him, President Jokowi can feel what the
people feel so that he does not make decisions that restrict movement strictly, as in the lockdown
policy. Because the economic situation is very tough, the people support when the president makes
a policy of the new normal order so that they can be productive again. In addition, the public's
positive assessment of the government's performance cannot be separated from the public's own
political attitude. Some things that can be studied in this literature, the authors classify in the
implementation of the GPA on the roles and fields in handling COVID-19 in Indonesia as follows
below.

Implementation of the Health for handling COVID-19

The results of the author's observation in looking for higher regulations that underlie the policy of
handling Covid-19 in Indonesia are that there are several regulations including Law No. 6 of 2018

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concerning Health Quarantine which is in an effort to prevent and ward off the exit or entry of
diseases and/or public health risk factors that have the potential to cause public health
emergencies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were 8 instructions from the Minister of Home
Affairs and other circulars to limit community activities, such as maintaining distance, washing hands
and wearing masks. the division of the green zone, the yellow zone and the red zone. Based on the
Ministry of Health regulation No. 18 of 2021 concerning changes to the Regulation of the Minister of
Health No. 10 of 2021 regarding the implementation of vaccinations in the context of dealing with
the COVID-19 pandemic, the point is that the government is trying to meet the technical needs and
implementation needs of the Covid-19 vaccination for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in
Indonesia. The gap that occurs is that in fact Indonesia already has rules, namely the quarantine
law, but it is not the basis for the authority to form these laws and regulations and the laws and
regulations that order their formation in terms of making regulations for handling COVID-19. This is in
line with the results of research (Kurniawan, 2021). The choice of PSBB instead of regional quarantine
as a policy taken by the Government is suspected of being a legal maneuver to avoid the
Government's responsibility to the people, where if the policy taken is Regional Quarantine, the
Central Government is required to meet the needs of the people. the basis of its citizens and
livestock that are in the quarantine area as stated in Article 55 of the Health Quarantine Law.
Meanwhile, in the PSBB policy, the Government is not obliged to provide the fulfillment of basic
needs as stated in the normative provisions of the PP a quo. However, from a health perspective
Kurniawan (2021) provides a recommendation that in dealing with similar pandemics in the future,
the Government must respond quickly, take fast, measured actions that are oriented towards
protecting the right to life and the right to people's health. The government must not repeat the
current mistakes, the attitude of denial, the slow response, and taking COVID-19 lightly at the
beginning of entering Indonesia must not be repeated again.

Implementation of science study for handling COVID-19

In Indonesia, a government agency conducted a study on the influence of weather and climate
on the Covid-19 pandemic issued by the BMKG and UGM: most of the researchers involved in the
study said that the new type of COVID-19 would be hampered by its spread at high temperatures
and humidity. tall. "The study also explains further that the delay in the spread of the virus is due to
tropical climatic conditions which can make the virus unstable faster so that the transmission of
the COVID-19 from person to person through a tropical climate environment tends to be
hampered, and finally the capacity to increase the number of infected cases to become a
pandemic will also increase. hampered," quoted from @infoBMKG in 2020. Prof. Dwikorita
Karnawati, PhD as the Head of BMKG revealed that "Indonesia, which is also located around the
equator with an average temperature ranging from 27-30 degrees Celsius and humidity ranging
from 70-95%, from literature studies is actually an environment that tends to be unstable. ideal for
the COVID-19 outbreak, however, the facts show that the case of the 2nd Wave of COVID-19 has
spread in Indonesia since the beginning of March 2020. This is presumably due to the factor of
human mobility and social interaction which is stronger than the weather factor in the spread of
the Covid-19 outbreak in Indonesia. This is in line with research (Kudo et al., 2019), low ambient
humidity impairs barrier function and innate resistance against influenza infection.
Based on research the spread of covid-19 in Indonesia is caused by human mobility rather than the
influence of the weather. According to the author, this can have two perceptions, firstly, people
ignore health protocols because they think that Covid-19 in Indonesia is weak because of hot
weather aspect. the second is that the government acts to implementing policy and together with
the community reduce mobility. In early 2021, January to early June, Covid-19 cases in Indonesia
had begun to swell, but in mid-June to August there was a significant spike in cases. Total cases of
covid-19 in Indonesia as of August 5, 2021 were 3.53 million people, an increase in cases of 35,867
people, healed 2.91 million people increased by 34,251 people and who died as many as 101
thousand people increased by 1,747 people as shown in Figure 1.1 below.

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Figure 2. graph of active cases, cured cases, and cases died by province

Source: covid19.go.id as of August 5, 2021

Based on the July 17, 2021 update that 16.2 million people have been vaccinated against the
second dose of COVID-19. The gap that occurs is based on facts on the ground that people who
have been vaccinated can still be exposed to COVID-19, but this accountability data is still
debatable whether the data released is real-time and so on.

Implementation of Economic, Industrial and Development Policies for handling

COVID-19

In 2020 the government through the ministry of finance has issued Law (UU) No. 2 of 2020
concerning State Financial Policy and Financial System Stability for Handling the Covid-19
Pandemic, which is intended to provide protection for people's lives which are very seriously
threatened by the spread and spread of COVID-19. 19 in Indonesia. These efforts are made to
maintain and protect people's lives and the economy. This is in line with (Kurniawan,
2021),Regarding economic issues, we know that at the beginning of March 2020 with only Jakarta
in lockdown, the wheels of the economy in 33 other provinces will continue to run normally, of
course, other provinces and the Central Government need to work together in helping each
other. Economy Politics Government Law in Handling the Covid-19 Pandemic.
According to the Minister of Finance of Indonesia, Sri Mulyani, in 2020 that "The Indonesian
economy has been under heavy pressure even with the start of the Large-Scale Social Restrictions
(PSBB) in mid-March. This step caused economic growth in the first quarter to decline to only 2.97
percent from the usual range of five percent," of course this has an impact on the economy, for
example, the rupiah exchange rate touched Rp. date, in fact, global financial market turmoil
caused capital outflows from the Indonesian financial market amounting to Rp148.8 trillion, an
increase in the yield of 10-year government securities above eight percent, the JCI weakening by

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almost 28 percent at the end of March 2020. In the industrial world, for example, there are many
retail companies. closed like Giant, PT. Matahari department store, Centro Department Store this
is due to the covid-19 pandemic which has changed lifestyles, ways of socializing to disrupt the
running of the economy. Even so, industrial growth in Indonesia during the Covid-19 pandemic still
recorded a positive performance. According to the Minister of Industry, Mr. Agus Gumiwang,
several sub-sectors have consistently contributed to and supported the growth rate of the
manufacturing industry, especially in the fourth quarter of 2020. Of the many industrial sectors
affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the chemical, pharmaceutical, and traditional medicine
industries still have high demand. In addition, the food and beverage industry grew 1.66 percent
in the fourth quarter of 2020. This sector is one of the sectors that has high demand during a
pandemic, because people need quality intake to maintain health. The manufacturing sub-
sector that also contributed positively in the fourth quarter of 2020 included the automotive
industry and the cement industry. Car production reached 206,937 units, an increase of 82.21
percent from the previous quarter. Meanwhile, wholesale car sales or sales up to dealer level
reached 159,981 units, an increase of 43.98%. This is the impact of policies and stimulus designed
by the government to stimulate the business passion of motor vehicle manufacturers. Moreover,
the automotive industry is one of several sectors that get priority in the implementation of industry
4.0. In addition, in order to encourage industrial productivity during the pandemic, the Ministry of
Industry also continues to optimize the implementation of the Operational Permit and Mobility for
Industrial Activities (IOMKI) granted to industrial companies and industrial estate companies. With
a note, industrial companies that get IOMKI are required to carry out health protocols for handling
COVID-19 in the operations and mobility of their industrial activities. To date, the Ministry of Industry
has issued 18,651 IOMKI and revoked 342 IOMKI from companies that do not comply with the
established rules. The issuance of a number of IOMKI covers around 5.1 million workers who are still
able to work today (Pasuruan Regency Government, 2021).
One problem that arises is the policy of limiting the social activities of the community, economic
activities were almost completely stopped. Many residents had to be laid off by their employers.
Apart from limiting the number of workers who can work in offices or factories, this is also due to a
decline in domestic demand or consumption. As a result, people's incomes have also
experienced a reduction, this is seen based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), in
the period August 2020, the number of unemployed people increased by 2.67 million people,
bringing the number of unemployed workers in Indonesia to 9.77 million people (Central Statistics
Agency 2020).

GPA policy implementation for Education policy

Several studies, such as those proposed by Ng (2021) stated that in particular, the move towards
a blended learning approach needs to help students develop the capacity for independent
learning, not just replicate classroom teaching in the virtual medium. Also, despite needing to
adapt very quickly to the pandemic, Singapore should continue to build its education system in a
balanced and steady manner, reaffirming the important roles that school leaders, teachers and
schools play in the society. Some of these points are applicable to other parts of the world.In
responding to the Covid-19 pandemic in the world of education in Indonesia, the Ministry of
Education and Culture has taken a policy that encourages all educational units to carry out
"Learning from Home". This is in accordance with Ki Hajar Dewantara's philosophy where "every
house becomes a school, and everyone becomes a teacher". Students no longer study together
in the classroom, but stay at home. Several policies have been launched by the government in
dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic situation, including launching several Kemendibud Research
and Technology programs, the first to implement TV-based learning (TVRI, TV-E, and others) the
second, Data Packages (Students and Educators) and third, Open sources of learning, and others,
fourthly Maximizing School Operational Assistance (BOS) funds, fifthly Increasing the contribution
of the private sector to the education sector and lastly, teachers learning and sharing. However,
this is still not enough because based on research results (Siahaan, Dewi, & Suhendi, 2020) namely,
although many educators, students and the public are not ready to face the era of the industrial
revolution 4.0, online learning in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic seems to force all humans to
have ready for today's technological developments.The gap that occurs is that there are still areas
that are green zones but do not carry out school education because they follow the government's

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PSBB policy program which is now PPKM. Based on data on the covid19.go.id website as of August
9, 2020, the following are the number of regions per zone by city/district, namely the red zone
(high risk) of 33,
Orange zone (medium risk) of 222, Yellow zone (low risk) of 177. The green zone (no cases/not
affected) is 82 (Fire and Rescue Service, 2020).

Conclusion and Future Scope

From this research, it can be concluded that GPA in Indonesia is quite good in handling COVID-
19, including in disseminating information and solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. First,
Accountability from Implementation of the Health for handling COVID-19 that facts in the field,
people who have been vaccinated can get COVID-19 even though the number is not more than
10%, so the government's appeal is to continue to implement the health protocol and regional
restrictions in Indonesia, but not fully adopting the quarantine law that was published in 2018 this
is an interesting issue for further research. the second is seen from the study of science for the
handling of COVID19, based on the opinion of WHO and the incidence of COVID-19 in the real
world as well as the fact that until the end of July 2021 that there is a new variant of COVID-19,
the spread of COVID-19 to countries with cold, dry, hot and humid climates are equally affected,
even Indonesia as a country with a hot climate is ranked in the top 10 rows affected by COVID-
19, especially Delta variant of COVID-19 has a significant effect on Indonesia with hot climates
with a lot of human mobility. The third is accountability from the Implementation of Economic,
Industrial and Development Policies for handling COVID-19 fact in the field The number of
unemployed who continues to grow due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the government must be
more serious because accountability is seen by the public. The fourth is the policy of all education
units in Indonesia to carry out learning from home, in order to minimize the worst impact on the
Indonesian economy and political situation, the government should in this situation involve public
participation. In addition, this accountability based on public participation will be able to help
reduce the spread and transmission of COVID-19, so it is hoped that the trend of COVID-19 will
continue to decline.
The author hopes that this paper can be a contribution or guidance to improve the performance
accountability system of Government and also can be replicate in another country in dealing
with the COVID-19 outbreak for those in need. Because we don't know when the COVID-19
pandemic will end. This research can be continued with quantitative research or with a soft system
methodoly because the complexity involves all aspects of the world's life.

Biographical Statements
Achmad Supandi, S,Kom, MMSI., is a student of Doctoral Program Administrative Science,
Department of Public Administration, Brawijaya University Jakarta, Indonesia
Prof. Dr. Soesilo Zauhar, M.Si., is a professor and director of Doctoral Study Program "Administrative
Science" at the Brawijaya University Jakarta, Indonesia. Her research focuses on Administrative
Reform, Accountability of Public Services, Public Policy Implementation and Government
Decentralization. His article, administrative reform: concepts, dimensions and strategies, has been
designated as one of Public Administration Review’s 99 most influential articles appearing in the
journal since its inception in 1996.
Dr, Endah Setyowati, S.Sos, M.Si., is Deputy Director General of University of Brawijaya Hospital,
Malang, Indonesia, and a Lecturer of Doctoral Program Administrative Science at Brawijaya
University Malang, Indonesia and also Brawijaya University Jakarta, Indonesia Her research interest
include public sector accountability, performance Government, Collaboration and Strategy, Soft
System Methodology.
Dr. Hermawan, M.Si., is a Lecturer of Doctoral Program Administrative Science at Brawijaya
University Malang, Indonesia and Brawijaya University Jakarta, Indonesia, His research focus on
governance Dynamics, Administrative Reform, Public Policy Analysis, political economy
development and Leadership.

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