Kalla says priorities will be economy, law, education

In an interview with The Jakarta Post's Ade Siboro and Kanis Dursin on Friday, Jusuf Kalla, the running mate of presidential candidate Gen. (ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono discussed several issues, including the pair's plans for the government should they win the presidential runoff as expected on Monday, and his stance on Indonesian-Chinese businesspeople. The following is an excerpt of the interview.

Question: If you win on Monday, what will be your priority in the first 100 days?

Answer: We will reorganize the government, decide on important government positions like the attorney general, National Police chief and excellent economic ministers. There will be three main focal points: Good law enforcement, the restructuring of the economy to ensure an immediate recovery with prudent economic growth and education, which will include the principles to improve the quality of our education.

Could you be more specific?

There are so many things to do. For instance how the attorney general should handle all pending cases. Then economic matters, like tax reform, the enforcement of our security institutions to enable us to attract investment, how to create stability and rejuvenate our infrastructure. Other priorities include how to accelerate the efficiency of our banking system and to lower interest rates. Our concern will also be on our school budget and how to build up our schools.

How about the composition of the Cabinet?

For any policy, it requires well-running ministers and ministries, which according to the law, must include ministers for finance, trade and mining, in addition to home affairs and foreign affairs. There will be at least 20 ministries. I think in principle the next Cabinet will not be so different from the existing one.

Who will be the members of your Cabinet?

First, believe me, the ministers will be chosen based on general requirements. First he/she must have the capability in his/her field, leadership and honesty. They should have the ability and be acceptable to others. They can be professionals or politicians. Although there are dozens of names, we continue to evaluate their background and capability. At this point, however we have not made any decision. We'll wait until after Sept. 20. We still have at least a month. The swearing-in will be held on Oct. 20, so we still have time.

How about economic portfolios?

What we have are still basic principles, we still do not have any names. The public can propose their candidates to us. We can consider them.

What is your strategy to overcome potential problems in the House of Representatives due the small number of the Democratic Party (Susilo's party) legislators?

Together with our political partners we can control about 40 percent of the House, including the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), National Mandate Party (PAN) and National Awakening Party (PKB). However, it is no problem if we can not reach a majority. We will be a government that depends on (and has a mandate) from the people. How about the House and the relationship with the government? The House has its task of legislation, along with the government. When it is uncooperative with the government then it becomes unconstitutional. If our budget proposals are not approved by the House, we can use the previous budget. When the House is controlled by the opposition, then we will have a good check and balance system.

What is your reaction to rumors that you are against Chinese- Indonesian businesspeople?

These are just rumors. But the principle is this. A country should not have a gap (between large business) and small entrepreneurs. There should be an effort to boost the economic quality of small entrepreneurs, affirmative action is needed, whether in the form of cheap loans or protective mechanisms for small businesses. Don't misunderstand this policy and see it as anti-Chinese. This is not a matter of Chinese or not Chinese. However, when there are Chinese-Indonesian small-scale entrepreneurs who need help, we will help them.

What standard would you use to determine the poor and the rich?

We have certain standards, there is a minimum wage. But what is important is about small-scale businesses, vendors, in the market, or agriculture. They are small-scale businesspeople. They must get better assistance. Now it is the other way around. Big businesses the bigger portion of loans, small businesses get less, but with interest rates of more than 30 percent. We will resolve this. This must be reversed, otherwise this country will collapse when such injustices remain.

Any comment on Golkar's decision to fire you from the party?

(Some) of our friends in Golkar have returned to authoritarian ways of thinking. It is very regrettable. They lecture on about democracy, but they act dictatorially, and they do not tolerate any difference of opinion.

By the way, have you prepared yourself for a possible loss on Monday?

If we are prepared to win, we must also be prepared to lose. There is nothing absolute in politics under our current democratic atmosphere. Only Pak Harto (Soeharto) could have been unprepared to lose.