The silver lining after Susilo's first year in office<\/p>\n
Meidyatama Suryodiningrat
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
In many respects it was always a case of mission impossible for
\nIndonesia's first democratically elected president.<\/p>\n
Burdened by unrealistic expectations that the elections --
\nread democracy -- were an overnight panacea for the country's
\nills, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's performance predictably fell
\nshort of the voting public's expectations.<\/p>\n
He has not been helped by occurrences that seemed to have
\nganged-up on an administration that was only still finding its
\nfeet.<\/p>\n
In less than 12 months, Susilo has had to deal with an almost
\napocalyptic tsunami, record oil prices, malnutrition, bird flu,
\nand a polio outbreak. Not to mention the advent of novel
\npolitical processes such as regional elections and the new
\nbalance in the relationship between the legislature and the
\nexecutive.<\/p>\n
Susilo may not be doing a great job, but the real question
\nwhen evaluating his performance is whether his two predecessors,
\nor any other of the presidential candidates of last year's
\npresidential elections, could have done any better.<\/p>\n
Probably not.<\/p>\n
We may correctly argue that more decisive leadership could
\nhave reduced the gravity of the situation, however, it would not
\nhave completely remedied or avoided the cruel tides that have hit
\nIndonesian shores -- economically, politically and literally.<\/p>\n
While it is easy to point out the negative aspects of Susilo's
\nleadership -- and there are many issues to criticize him on --
\nlet us look on the positive side; at the ways in which
\nIndonesia's first directly elected president has been a good
\ninfluence.<\/p>\n
Contributions which Indonesians now take for granted, include
\nhis relaxed almost laissez faire attitude towards the country's
\ndemocratic evolution.<\/p>\n
Since taking office Susilo has not shown an inclination to
\nbuild a stronger authoritarian power base. Neither has he
\nembarked on strategies to strengthen his clutches on the levers
\nof power.<\/p>\n
Unlike his predecessor, he has allowed, for example, to let
\nthe process of decentralization proceed unimpeded. If he has
\nexploited his position, it has been done with subtlety and grace.<\/p>\n
Some argue that this in part is due to his nature of
\n\"indecisiveness\". A valid point. Nevertheless during the past
\nyear public perceptions of vanity and or despotism have not
\narisen.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, Susilo has not, like his predecessors, shown
\nsigns of attempting to amass wealth or to enrich his cronies
\nthrough presidential privilege. That is not to say that
\ncorruption in the administration has been stamped out, but
\ncertainly rumors of Susilo attempting to enrich himself are
\nalmost unheard of.<\/p>\n
These two bottom-line qualities have been wanting in past
\npresidents.<\/p>\n
Another factor to take into account has been the experience of
\nmore-established democracies, such as the United States, which
\nconsistently sees a pattern of trial and error in a president's
\ninitial year in office, and even the first term for that matter.
\nThat is why we see so many American presidents perform better in
\ntheir second term.<\/p>\n
Compared to his predecessors, Susilo has also been the most
\nadept at engaging the public to the point that one would think
\nthat he is already on the campaign trail for 2009. The only
\nperson that came close in this respect, was president Abdurrahman
\n\"Gus Dur\" Wahid. However Gus Dur talked so much and with such
\nincoherency that he ended up being seen as a joke in some
\ncircles.<\/p>\n
The interesting thing to watch in the second year of Susilo's
\npresidency is how far his smooth talk and likable demeanor can
\nsustain a degree of trust and optimism among a nation that is
\nfalling into economic dire straits.<\/p>\n
It will also be interesting to examine whether the President
\nwill begin to consolidate his own power base to counter the
\ngrowing pressure from major political parties.<\/p>\n
To summarize his performance one would have to say \"Not bad,
\nbut certainly not good.\" There is room for improvement, Susilo,
\nbut the public has not given up on you yet.<\/p>",
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