ABSTRACT
After weeks of claiming to have zero cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a claim that befuddled many and led to suspicion that the country is unable to either detect cases or cover them up, the country finally announced that citizens within its borders had also contracted the virus. Until April 2, 2020, there are total 1677 cases with 157 deaths (kawalcovid19.id/guardcovid19)—the highest death rate from coronavirus in the world. Cases are said to have spread across the country, including Jakarta, Yogyakarta, West Java, Central Java, Banten, North Sulawesi, and West Kalimantan. The highly contagious coronavirus went undetected. There have been a lack of leadership, transparency, and inconsistency from the government related to the pandemic, particularly during the early phase of the pandemic. Collecting data from daily newspapers and other media, we analyzed how President Jokowi together with his government bodies approached COVID-19 in their speeches and directives. Using an interpretive and discourse analysis, this chapter aims to unpack the Indonesian government’s discourse in handling and approaching the COVID-19 issue. Data analysis suggests that Javanese value, “desire for conflict avoidance” appears strongly in government’s communication.
