Video draws flak for depicting Jokowi as being summoned by Megawati

An Instagram selfie video uploaded recently by the daughter of the chairman of Indonesia's ruling political party has drawn flak for depicting President Joko Widodo as being summoned by a superior.

The video was posted on Tuesday, the first of a three-day annual meeting of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), by Ms Puan Maharani, daughter of chairman Megawati Sukarnoputri.

In the video, Mr Widodo is seated in a wooden chair in front of a desk, facing Ms Megawati, who sits in an executive chair. She is seen speaking to the President and three other people seated on one side of the room.

"We are getting ready for the opening of the annual national working meeting. Madam is having serious talk with the President," Ms Puan is heard saying in the video, referring to her mother.

At one point, Mr Widodo turns to wave briefly at the camera.

Ms Puan then introduces the other people in the room - party treasurer Olly Dondokambey; Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung; and chief of the country's intelligence unit, Mr Budi Gunawan.

The video, which has been widely circulated, drew negative reactions on social media, with many criticising its posting as a lack of ethics and an act intended to show that a ruling party chairman is above the president.

Instagram user Anisa.dwi said: "It looked as if the President was summoned by a class teacher, sitting on that chair. It was totally impolite."

Netizen Arif Wicak described Mr Widodo as being "treated as if he was not president". Another netizen, Mr Muhammad Hafiz, said: "(They) wanted to make it look like (PDI-P) party chairman is a higher position than a president."

Political observers agreed with the netizens, saying that no one should have shot such a video, let alone uploaded it on social media.

"The video could be interpreted in multiple ways," noted Mr Hendri Satrio, who teaches political communications at Paramadina University in Jakarta.

"From his gesture... Jokowi was being agreeable to whatever was said to him, at least during that particular moment," Mr Hendri said, using a moniker the President is popularly known by.

The Straits Times has contacted Indonesia's presidential palace for comment.

In a speech during a PDI-P congress in 2015, six months after Mr Widodo was inaugurated as president, Ms Megawati said she demanded that Mr Widodo obey party orders because he was just a party official, and that she was in charge of the party.

"It goes without saying that the President and Vice-President must toe the party line, because the party policies are consistent with what the public wants," she said.

During his time in office, Mr Widodo has had several run-ins with Ms Megawati, including on the question of who should fill key strategic posts, including those of Cabinet members and police chief. He has faced threats of withdrawal of PDI-P's support for his agenda and has had to struggle for the backing of other political parties.

Indonesia adopts a presidential system where Mr Widodo, as the chief executive, has the prerogative to appoint ministers and replace underperforming ones at any time during his term. But in filling Cabinet posts, the President has to balance political stability with competency when he selects from candidates proposed by the political parties that back him.

He faced such a situation last month when he wanted a major reshuffle of his economic portfolio ministers, but ended up replacing only two amid resistance from political parties, observers noted.

With global economic uncertainty on the rise, Mr Widodo had reportedly planned to reshuffle a number of posts filled by underperforming politicians.

In his speech at PDI-P's annual meeting this week, he raised the extent of the problem the global economy is facing as a result of ongoing multiple crises and said that as many as 60 nations may see their economies collapse.

He spoke about the need for everyone to work together to achieve a common goal, pointing out that each political party has cadres with differing qualifications.

"Those who are good at (courting) the grassroots should work in the field, while others who are good at formulating strategies should focus on that… There are cadres who are good at being MPs, others at being ministers. Everyone should be assigned tasks according to his respective strengths," Mr Widodo said.