Policy response to COVID-19 in Indonesia: the case of mobility restrictions policy for the period of January 2020 – May 2021

In the absence of a comprehensive plan for preventing the rapid spread of COVID-19 from January to the beginning of March 2020, the Government of Indonesia stuttered in the face of uncertainty, and the complexity of the outbreaks that transformed into the global pandemic. This research explores the central government's attempts to understand the wicked problem of the COVID-19 pandemic between January 2020 and May 2021, along with interest differentiation, power dynamic, politics, and data fragmentation that influenced the ability to develop comprehensive policies and resource mobilization. Drawing from the literature on governance and wicked problem in public policy, this RP visualize the initial responses of the central government, the pandemic governance, and its key actors, PSBB and PPKM developed to tackle the problem by limiting the movement of people in several activities. The research method used in this study is the qualitative method and single case study approach in which qualitative interviews were conducted combined with various data and information from online newspaper articles, policy documents, and the official government website. This study argues that a lack of institutional infrastructure and the preferred stance of the central government on saving the economy over public health in the early phase of the pandemic added to the degree of complexity of the problem. Consequently, the central bureaucracy and regional leaders encountered difficulty developing comprehensive policy and swiftly mobilizing the resources. Centralizing authority indeed helps to bring chaotic situations under control. However, under certain conditions, it can also cause a slow pace of policy response which exposes people and vulnerable groups to imminent threats.