Next govt must tackle economic woes: Survey

Next govt must tackle economic woes: Survey

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The administration of president-elect Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
must make tackling the economic problems afflicting the country's
most needy as its top priority if it wants to stay the course for
the next five years, an independent survey revealed on Tuesday.

The Jakarta-based Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) in its
post-election survey revealed that over 60 percent of respondents
wanted to see Susilo's administration tackle the economic
problems that have plagued the country since 1997.

"Forty seven percent of respondents said that high prices of
basic commodities concerned them most, while another 21 percent
stated that unemployment was the most crucial issue," the survey
said.

For the survey, the LSI interviewed 1,200 respondents in the
country's 32 provinces, including strife-torn Nanggroe Aceh
Darussalam and Maluku, between Oct. 2 and Oct. 4. The margin of
error is 2.9 percent.

The survey also found that 48.1 percent of respondents
considered the country's economic situation as being very bad,
against 37.3 percent who said that conditions were normal.

The Susilo administration will likely have to work hard to
justify any move to cut fuel subsidy spending, which has reached
an astronomical Rp 62 trillion (US$6.8 billion), as 25.5 percent
of respondents wanted the government to maintain fuel price
stability as part of its main economic priorities during its
first 100 days in office.

The chronic corruption that has plagued the country for
decades did not seem to bother the respondents, however, with
only 5.7 percent of the respondents saying they considered it the
most pressing problem facing the new government.

The public also showed little interest in seeing Susilo's
government put terrorism at the top of its list. "Only 1.3
percent considered that terrorism is the most crucial issue the
country has currently to deal with," the survey said.

LSI chief researcher Sjaiful Mujani said that Susilo did not
have to listen to everything the public said. "Raising the fuel
price would be a difficult decision as the public will surely
oppose it, but on the other hand the amount of subsidy spending
is already too burdensome for the state budget. However, he could
compensate for the fuel price hike with a stepped up drive
against corruption," he said.

He said that public resentment against fuel price hikes could
be allayed by taking legal action against suspected corruptors.
"He needs to apply shock therapy," Sjaiful said.

Economist Rizal Ramli said that Susilo's administration should
concentrate its efforts on mitigating the economic woes that
afflict the most needy if it wanted to see out its 2004-2009
term.

"President Megawati Soekarnoputri lost the election because
her administration only focused on fiscal stability, which in
fact has little to do with the ordinary people's well-being," he
said.

Susilo, who won the Sept. 20 election in a landslide victory,
will assume the national leadership on Oct. 20.