New government vs. unemployment

New government vs. unemployment

We could declare already that a new president and vice president have been elected. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Jusuf Kalla are merely waiting for the official announcement that they won Monday's election runoff.

Amid the euphoria, however, is a gamut of domestic issues that must be tended to by the new government, chiefly unemployment. The new government faces the challenge of creating as many jobs as possible for the people.

It is assumed that over the next five years, unemployment would continue to haunt the country's socio-economic condition.

Thus, we should not so easily believe the promises made by the presidential and vice presidential candidates to solve the problem within the next five years, unless they have special strategies.

To create employment, the new government must boost the informal sector, as Amien Rais said during his campaign in the first round of the presidential election in July.

The unemployment rate could be reduced if 40 million informal small-scale enterprises across the country each gave a job to one jobless person.

Consequently, the government should develop a climate conducive to and provide enough funds for developing informal small-scale businesses into formal enterprises.

Solving unemployment is far from easy. The newly elected president must be aware that it is like a time bomb that could explode at any time if it is not managed well. -- Republika