Presidential candidates make unrealistic promises: NGO

Tiarma Siboro, Jakarta

Non-governmental organization The Institute for Democracy Studies (LKaDe) criticized on Tuesday presidential and vice presidential candidates for the unrealistic promises they have made during nearly three weeks of public campaigning.

To make matters worse, LKaDe said all candidates forgot to promote primary issues, such as protection of children and women against illegal trafficking, empowerment of disabled people, the elimination of discrimination against people of Chinese descent and against other minority groups, the investigation of unresolved cases involving human rights abuses and the introduction of a clear concept on internal military reform.

"As to responding to public complaints at high fees for education, presidential candidate Hamzah Haz has promised to free parents from paying tuition fees for their children, while another candidate, Amien Rais, has promised a policy on low-cost education.

"Their promises are unrealistic because the government has allocated a huge budget of no less than Rp 93 trillion (US$99 billion) to the education sector -- yet it cannot accommodate free tuition and low-cost education programs," LKaDe chairman Sukowaluyo Mintorahardjo told a media conference.

Hamzah and Amien are respectively the presidential candidates from the United Development Party (PPP) and National Mandate Party (PAN).

According to Sukowaluyo, incumbent president Megawati Soekarnoputri, who is the candidate from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), has made "more realistic pledges in her campaign by offering to raise the number of students who receive scholarships".

Sukowaluyo, who was accompanied by legislator Didiek Supriyanto -- both of them from the PDI-P -- also highlighted responses from Gen. (ret) Wiranto, the Golkar Party candidate, and Gen. (ret) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono from the Democratic Party, with regard to the eradication of corruption.

"Both candidates have promised to impose the death sentence on corruptors but I don't think they could do that," Sukowaluyo said, adding "their statements imply interference in the country's legal system".

He was referring to Anticorruption Law No. 39/1999, which stipulates a maximum 20 years in jail for convicted corruptors; the death sentence could only be enforced under special circumstances, such as an emergency situation.

LKaDe was established by PDI-P members critical of Megawati. It monitored the campaigns of all the presidential candidates from June 1 to June 20.

Sukowaluyo also criticized the candidates' economic platforms as most claim to be able to create more job opportunities for hundreds of thousands of jobless people, brushing aside the reality that the government is not in a position to create such opportunities.

"The creation of job opportunities belongs to the private sector, while the government is responsible for creating a positive situation by streamlining the arduous bureaucracy and abolishing conflicting regulations.

"Isn't it strange that our would-be administrators promise to employ hundreds of thousands of jobless people, while in fact the only job opportunities that they can create are for civil servants or servicemen?" Sukowaluyo asked.