Slow and steady SBY gains ground<\/p>\n
John McBeth, The Straits Times, Asia News Network\/Singapore<\/p>\n
It is unspoken, of course, but there are many impatient
\nIndonesians who wish President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono would
\ndispense with the velvet glove and start using the mailed fist.<\/p>\n
Seven months into his presidency, most people give him an A-
\nplus for style, for his obvious sincerity and for doing the right
\nthings. But even at this early stage, there are those who see too
\nmany promises and not enough real action. In short, the \"I\" word
\n-- indecision -- that has haunted him for years.<\/p>\n
It is all quite unfair, of course. According to his aides,
\nSusilo believes in doing everything by the book. That means
\nhaving to work within the system -- as flawed as it is -- while
\ntrying to clean up corruption and introduce incremental reforms.
\nPrevious reform-era presidents did little except tinker at the
\nedges. This one is trying to do the toughest thing of all: change
\nthe national mindset that has endured since then president
\nSoeharto's downfall seven years ago.<\/p>\n
In fact, Susilo may just be the leader Indonesia has been
\nyearning for, a leader who is not an accepted member of the
\ntraditional Jakarta elite, yet has instincts that often seem at
\nodds with his nearly three decades in the military. His efforts
\nat finding a peaceful settlement in Aceh, for example, have not
\nalways been appreciated by conservative generals. Nor was his
\ndecision to bring in foreign forces to help in last December's
\ntsunami relief operation, even though it was the obvious thing to
\ndo and helped define the early days of his presidency.<\/p>\n
There have been some missteps. His decision to set overly
\nambitious targets for his first 100 days was doomed from the
\nbeginning. The invitation for people to SMS complaints to his
\nhand-phone predictably crashed the system.<\/p>\n
Politically, he has been handicapped by having to choose a
\nCabinet last October that reflected the uncertainties at the
\ntime. No-one really believed Golkar would follow former leader
\nAkbar Tandjung into Megawati Soekarnoputri's sourpuss opposition,
\nbut in the end it did take Vice-President Jusuf Kalla's personal
\nintervention at the December convention to bring the party on
\nboard. As things have predictably turned out, getting an
\nentrenched bureaucracy to respond to the political process and
\nimplement directives has been a lot more problematic than dealing
\nwith Parliament.<\/p>\n
It seems almost certain that the President will reshuffle his
\nCabinet in November, once he has completed a promised evaluation
\nof his ministers. Political calculations remain difficult to
\ndetermine, but there are already indications that he will replace
\nineffective Finance Minister Jusuf Anwar with feisty National
\nPlanning Minister Sri Mulyani Idrawati. She was his first choice
\nlast year anyway, but he ran into strong resistance from
\nnationalist-Islamic politicians concerned about her previous job
\nat the International Monetary Fund (IMF).<\/p>\n
Another key figure to go may be State Secretary Yusril Ihza
\nMahendra, a former leader of the minority Muslim-orientated
\nCrescent Star Party, whose well-known taste for intrigue and
\nobstructionism has never engendered real trust among his fellow
\nministers. Well-placed government sources say that, as a result,
\nmany of the traditional duties of the man who heads the
\npresidential office have been taken off him and split between the
\nPresident's Cabinet Secretary, Sudi Silalahi, and Justice
\nMinister Hamid Awaluddin.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the biggest concern about the Susilo presidency is the
\nabsence of an inner circle of advisers who can help him set an
\nagenda. He may know in his own mind where he wants to go, and
\nthere is no question that he does listen to advice, but as one
\nsenior government official told The Straits Times: \"It's the
\nproblem of a smart guy who knows he is smart and runs the country
\non his own initiative.\"<\/p>\n
More than that, Susilo survived four presidencies with his
\nreputation intact, largely by keeping his distance from anyone
\nwho may ask for or dispense favors. \"He's sent a message that
\nsays 'Keep your distance', so people are not keen to stick their
\nnecks out for him,\" observes Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, a ministerial
\nveteran of the Soeharto and Abdurrahman Wahid administrations.<\/p>\n
\"So when ministers are confronted by the press, they always
\npass the buck upstairs.\"<\/p>\n
Indonesian analysts, perplexed over the phenomenon of a vice-
\npresident who for the first time has a real role in government,
\ncontinue to fret about the so-called rivalry between Susilo and
\nKalla. What they cannot seem to understand is that these are two
\nvery different men who do a lot of things differently. Susilo
\nlikes to think over things, which is one of the reasons why he is
\nconsidered indecisive. Kalla is a gunfighter who has a tendency
\nto over-reach and shoot from the hip.<\/p>\n
That does not make them rivals. They might even complement
\neach other. After all, they do talk five or six times a day.
\nMinisters who work with both dismiss talk of rivalry and one
\nsenior presidential aide even insists they are getting \"closer
\nand closer\". Take the occasion recently when Kalla was accused of
\nmaking the Aceh talks a one-man crusade. With the whole
\ninitiative still hanging in the balance, Susilo could have let
\nhim hanging out there like a ripe durian. Instead, he came to the
\nrescue and repeated his backing for the peace move.<\/p>\n
Little by little, Susilo is consolidating. His recent
\npromotion of hard-charging Gen. Sutanto as police chief could
\nmake a huge difference, in everything from fighting terrorism to
\nsolving the bizarre murder of human-rights activist Munir Said
\nThalib -- still one of the biggest challenges to the President's
\nresolve. He has also handled the military adroitly, promoting
\nanother trusted figure, Gen. Djoko Santoso, as army chief of
\nstaff and sidelining Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu, a hardline Megawati
\nloyalist whom his bitter predecessor had left behind like a live
\nhand grenade.<\/p>\n
In early May, apparently concerned over a lack of
\ncoordination in the fight against corruption, he effectively took
\nover prosecutorial powers himself by appointing a 51-strong
\npresidential task force -- comprising prosecutors, police and
\nauditors -- to investigate high-profile cases.<\/p>\n
Critics point to the fact that only Aceh provincial governor
\nAbdullah Puteh has so far gone to jail for corruption. Yet at no
\ntime in Indonesia's history have so many people been investigated
\nor declared suspects for stealing public funds. There is only one
\nlingering problem. It could take at least another generation
\nbefore the country's flawed legal system can be counted on to
\nreturn judgments rooted in transparent argument and free of the
\nimplications of bribery.<\/p>\n
It is a burden the President will have to bear, but there is
\nno doubt he is serious. At a six-hour Cabinet meeting on July 8,
\nhe surprised his ministers by launching into a long-winded
\ndiscourse on the principles of his government, pointedly
\nreminding them of the \"no corruption\" contracts they had signed
\nwhen they were sworn in.<\/p>\n
\"We were looking around wondering who he was talking to,\" says
\none minister.<\/p>\n
Come November, if he feels sufficiently secure in the job,
\nthey might finally know.<\/p>",
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