As the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic grips Indonesia, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration faces a laundry list of public grievances over its handling of the crisis.

In a recent open letter to the government, a coalition of 24 civil society groups called the Consortium for Public Health decried the President’s apparent refusal to take full responsibility for the nationwide handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

They also urged the government to apologise to the public for failing to manage the crisis and to give concrete support to those who had been affected by it.

“Forget, for once, about political image, focus on handling the pandemic,” the letter read.

Indonesia has been grappling with overstretched hospitals, exhausted and burned out health workers and depleted oxygen supplies. Increased mobility during Idul Fitri and the spread of the Delta variant have accelerated the growth of cases in recent weeks.

The country reported over 36,000 new cases and more than 1,000 deaths on July 11.

The virus has also claimed the lives of a number of prominent figures, including Rachmawati Soekarnoputri, a politician and daughter of the country’s founding father, Sukarno.

Amid growing public dissatisfaction with the government, an online petition circulated earlier this month urging it to address the pandemic with a deeper sense of crisis and urgency.

More than 32,000 people have signed the petition, which was initiated by Alissa Wahid, the eldest daughter of late president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid, along with her interfaith community Jaringan Gusdurian and the Sonjo humanitarian movement in Yogyakarta, which focuses on helping vulnerable people weather the pandemic. The number signatures was still growing on July 11.

“We don’t have much time. Every day, Indonesian people die because of the lack of any sense of urgency or crisis from those who make policies,” Alissa said in the petition.

After the country learned that dozens of people had died when Yogyakarta’s biggest hospital, Dr Sardjito Hospital, ran out of oxygen on July 5, a Tempo editorial called on the government to “raise the white flag” – to admit its mistakes and failures as a moral obligation.

This sentiment has been echoed in other quarters. In the same week, the hashtag #BapakPresidenMenyerahlah (just give up, Mr. President) trended on Twitter, calling for a change in leadership.

Analysts believe that such responses reflect a collapse in public trust in the government and growing frustration with its policies.

“It is the result of the government’s unserious attitude and consistently inconsistent policies,” said political analyst Ujang Komarudin.

Under Jokowi, the central government’s response to the pandemic crisis has been plagued with mixed messages, inconsistency and a lack of transparency.

Late last month, Vice-President Ma’ruf Amin came under public scrutiny after he invited the public to travel to Raja Ampat, West Papua, while other officials were scrambling to address the surge of new cases following Idul Fitri. The programme, he said, would help accelerate the economic recovery in the tourism sector.

In another contentious episode over the weekend, the government expanded the Gotong Royong private vaccination scheme, offering it at certain clinics of Kimia Farma – a subsidiary of state-owned pharmaceutical company Bio Farma – to anyone willing to pay 879,000 rupiah ($60) for two doses of the Sinopharm vaccine.

Initially, the scheme had allowed only private and state-owned companies to buy vaccine supplies from the government for distribution to employees and their family members free of charge. The change drew criticism from rights groups, which called the expansion an attempt to commercialise vaccination and profit from the pandemic, while vaccines were supposed to be a public good.

“The public sees double standards in the government’s response,” said Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) political analyst Firman Noor. “You can’t win public confidence with conflicting messages.”

Presidential spokesman Fadjroel Rachman also received a flurry of criticism for his plans to speak at a webinar on July 6 about the creation of a new capital city, a project that has been put on hold during the pandemic. The topic was changed to “The pandemic and socioeconomic resilience” after the backlash.

“They’re trying to manage the pandemic crisis while they have other agendas in mind,” Firman said.

These missteps have occurred amid longstanding concerns that the president is putting the economy over public health.

Health experts and the general public were vocal about the government’s reluctance to face the second Covid-19 wave and its apparently dismissive attitude.

Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko rejoined recently that any criticism of the government’s Covid-19 policies should come with solutions.

“I remind everyone not to be political gadflies who only break the concentration of those who are working hard,” Moeldoko said in an official YouTube video on July 10.

Jokowi himself has been subject to criticism as well.

As hospitals across Java were swelling with patients, the president flew to Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, to attend the Indonesian chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) congress. Later, dozens of attendees tested positive for the virus.

“Ultimately, it boils down to top leadership,” said Firman.

THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK