President, VP defend performance

President, VP defend performance

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Despite claims in the press that little had been achieved by the
end of his first 100 days in office on Friday, President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono said the public at large were not concerned as
they knew real progress would be made over the next five years.

"The 100-day program has become a political football," he was
quoted by Antara as saying during a visit to the South Sulawesi
regency of Ogan Komering Ulu on Friday.

Similarly in Jakarta, Vice President Jusuf Kalla defended the
government's performance, saying the country had notched up some
significant achievements over the past three months.

"You would be justified in saying the government had failed if
our country was suffering more problems than before and there was
no light at the end of the tunnel," he told journalists after
inaugurating a mosque inside the vice presidential office
complex.

Susilo and Kalla were sworn in as the country's sixth
president and vice president respectively on Oct. 20, 2004.
Friday marked their first 100 days in power, with some political
analysts and economists saying the new government had failed to
bring about improvements in the country's security and economic
environment.

Susilo said the government and the people needed to join
forces and to work hard to ensure the country's progress in the
political, legal, security, economic and social fields.

Both the government and people had to tackle the same problems
-- unemployment and poverty -- he said, adding that other
problems included natural disasters, which affected many parts of
the country.

Promising that the government would continue to work hard to
boost investment and develop the country's infrastructure so as
to create more jobs, the President asked local administrations to
design concrete work programs.

Kalla said the people were welcome to criticize the
government's performance but they should look at the overall
indicators, whether for the economic sector, law enforcement,
etc.

"If we had failed, you wouldn't dare to leave your home. The
situation is good, the economy is good and prices are not rising
so quickly. These are the indicators," he argued.

Kalla maintained that the government's anticorruption drive
had reduced the temptation among local leaders to engage in
corruption, saying that people in positions of power were now
afraid to embezzle state funds.

"The success of the anticorruption movement is not indicated
by the number of suspects arrested but by the fact that the
number of people foolhardy enough to engage in corruption is now
falling," Kalla said.

However, the critics maintain that the record of the country's
law enforcement agencies in the fight against corruption is
unconvincing due to their failure to investigate and bring high
profile cases to court.

The government has also come in for criticism for failing to
improve the business and economic climate.

Critics also say that the apparent rivalry between the
President and his deputy, who was recently elected as the new
leader of the Golkar Party, has contributed to their poor
performance.

Kalla, however, dismissed the accusations, saying he and
Susilo had different styles in running the administration.