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.