Kalla stands by economic team amid criticism

Rendi A. Witular and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

As pressures increase on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to reshuffle his economic team in the Cabinet, Vice President Jusuf Kalla has defended the team's performance over the past year, saying it has been successful in carrying out economic reform.

Responding to a recent survey by the Indonesian Research Institute (LSI) -- which showed that the majority of respondents were dissatisfied with the government's performance in the economy -- Kalla simply said the survey, conducted before the Oct. 1 fuel price hike, did not reflect the entirety of public opinion.

"The government is not run based on a poll of some 1,300 people. We (the government) are not influenced by the survey results as we are working based on a long-term program, which thus far has been fairly successful," the second-in-command said after Friday prayers.

While 63 percent of the survey respondents were satisfied with the government's overall performance, almost half of them, or 47 percent, believed the economy had worsened in the past year.

The disappointments included the government's failure to stem the rupiah's recent nose dive against the U.S. dollar, maintain domestic fuel prices at an affordable level in spite of soaring global oil prices, as well as ensure fuel supplies and reduce unemployment.

Kalla said the recent economic turmoil was primarily a result of external factors that could not be related to any failure on the part of the economic team.

"The country's economy is controlled by internal and external factors. The difficult situation that we are experiencing is a result of the external factor of higher global oil prices," he said.

"There is no direct relationship between the economic problems and the performance of the economic team. Even the best economic ministers would also take the bitter decision to raise fuel prices," he said.

In last year's presidential campaign, the duo had agreed that Kalla would have a wide authority in running the country's economy including choosing the economic ministers.

While accepting the disappointment over the economy, the Vice President appealed to the public not to express their resentment towards the economic ministers as they were just carrying out the government's programs.

Susilo is expected to give an evaluation of his ministers' performance sometime after Oct. 20 -- which marks his first year in power. He has repeatedly promised to replace ministers deemed to have under-performed.

But sources at the Presidential Palace said Susilo was unlikely to discharge the economic ministers -- led by Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie, Kalla's close associate when he was still active in business as well as in the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) -- since it would cause political turmoil.

Kalla is the chairman of the Golkar Party, which in the House of Representatives has the most seats, 129. Compared to Kalla, Susilo is only supported by the newly established Democratic Party, represented by 57 seats in the House.

"Replacing economic ministers linked to Kalla or to the Golkar Party is feared may cause resentment among them, which will eventually cause difficulties for the President in passing his reform agenda," said a close aide to Susilo.